Rurahel stood before him in the murky darkness. Her grin stretched to show rows of white teeth against crimson lips. She seemed a caricature of herself as she loomed over him, her red eyes growing larger and her mouth widening like a shark's. She reached out for his neck with long nails and cackled.
"You're just trash!" she said. "You're nothing but a bastard child!"
Arjen froze with fear as her cold fingers wrapped around his throat. He clutched something in his right hand and glanced down to find a sword with a jeweled pommel. It emitted a faint glow and warmed his hand. A strange emotion rose up in his chest as he watched it, and the sword began to pulse in tandem with his heartbeat.
He slapped away Rurahel's hands, raised the sword, and brought it squarely down on her head. The blade sliced down through her abdomen, but despite the wound and the blood that poured over her dress, she continued to grin at him like a madwoman.
"Stupid boy!" she bellowed. "Did you really think you could do anything to me?" She began to laugh, blood gushing from the cut to pool at their feet, hot and sticky like tar. It rose up and oozed over Arjen's legs and up his waist until it clung to his shoulders and wrapped around his arms. As he tried to pull the sword from Rurahel's flesh, she laughed at him, her eyes mocking.
"I made you. Don't you ever forget that!"
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He opened his eyes and gasped for air. He ran a hand over his sweaty face while little waves of shock coursed through his body. Sitting up, he looked around the dim room and let his mind slowly clear. A candle burned low on the table beside him. Arien slept in the bed next to his, her chest rising and falling in deep sleep.
Just a dream. They were at an inn on their way to Aramore, not at Derolina. Rurahel was dead, and had been for three days. She could not hurt them from the grave. Or so he thought.
Arjen combed fingers through his hair and tried to gather his courage. His heart raced as he remembered the dream. She's dead but she'll haunt us forever. Will we ever truly be free? He could still feel the impression of the sword in his hand. There had been something familiar about it, but he didn't know why. He had never held a sword before. Did it mean something?
It was just a nightmare. Nothing more. Dreams don't mean anything.
Someone knocked at the door. He jumped, his heart slamming against his ribs. When the knock came again, he took the dagger from under his pillow and crept out of bed.
'Arien, wake up.' He used telepathy so the person outside wouldn't hear. When Arien didn't stir, he nudged her. 'Wake up!'
She groaned and rubbed her eyes. "Wha...?"
He put a finger to his lips. 'Someone's at the door. I need you to cover me.'
'Why would someone be...?'
'What do you think?'
She seemed annoyed at him for some reason, but got out of bed nonetheless. They went to the door and she waited behind him. He held the dagger behind his back and touched the door handle.
"Sir?" said a voice on the other side. "Miss? Are you there?"
"What is it?" Arjen demanded. It sounded like the innkeeper.
"There's, uh... Well..."
He waited, tightly gripping the dagger's handle. Arien would use defensive magic if needed. She had been practicing such magic for several years now and had become adept at it.
The innkeeper sounded nervous. "W-We're being ordered to go outside. I'm sorry, but I don't have any choice in the matter."
The twins exchanged glances. "Who's ordering us outside?"
"I know this sounds crazy, but the imperial knights, they're..."
Arien slapped a hand over her mouth, her breath rushing loudly through her nose.
"What would they want with us?" Arjen said, trying to keep his voice steady. The knights had caught up already? Had the emperor's forces been working day and night to find them?
"They won't say," said the innkeeper. "They just said we all have to go outside."
Arjen looked back at his sister, and she shook her head, her misty eyes glinting in the weak light from the candle. She looked like she wanted to run and hide under the bed.
'If we don't go outside, the knights will probably come in here,' he told her. 'It'll be less suspicious if we just go outside like everyone else.'
She paused to consider this, jerked a nod, and put on the bravest face she could.
They put on their shoes and followed the innkeeper to the other guests lined up outside. Unease flashed everyone's eyes at the golden-armored men who paced up and down the line. The knights suspended orbs of light in their hands as they inspected the people and asked questions. People murmured amongst themselves, eyeing the swords belted at the knights' hips.
The innkeeper ushered the twins toward the line, but before they took their places, Arjen said, 'Stand over there, away from me.'
Arien threw him a confused look at first, but then quickly squeezed in between an elderly man and a middle-aged woman, while Arjen took the end of the line several people down.
The town was small with homes and businesses lining a single thoroughfare. The knights stalked about, herding people into the street from their homes, their orbs of light catching the pale faces of residents. One knight in particular, presumably the leader with numerous decorations on his uniform, stood speaking with a man in his night clothes. The man might've been one of the town leaders, and he was not happy to have his whole town awakened in the middle of the night.
'It's like they're looking for a wanted fugitive,' said Arien.
Arjen quickly glanced at her. She hugged herself like she was cold, even though the night was warm. 'They are. I hadn't been sure they'd actually come looking for us, but... Try to stay calm, and don't look at me. We don't want them to think we know each other.' Just as he said this, a knight stepped up to him and shoved a light toward his face. Arjen blinked and squinted.
"Name?" said the knight.
"Daniel."
"What's your business here?"
"I'm traveling—Could you get that light out of my face, please?"
He pulled it away without apology. "Traveling where?"
"To the capital."
"Where are you from?"
"Aramore. I have family in the capital and I'm going to visit them."
The knight looked him up and down, probably noting his ratty clothes. "Have you seen a boy and a girl about your age, traveling together? They are likely in this area."
"I have not."
The knight paused, and a crease in his brow deepened the longer he stared at Arjen. But the questions stopped and he proceeded to the next person.
Nausea prickled Arjen's stomach, and he suddenly realized his legs were shaking. He wanted so much to look at Arien to see how she was doing. When the knight approached her, she spoke.
"I'm here on business for my family," she said.
"What does your family do?"
"We're farmers. We grow hops and brew beer for nearby villages."
"That's why you're here?"
"Yes. I'm selling the beer to inns and taverns."
"A girl as young as you?"
"Yes."
The knight didn't sound like he approved of a young girl going around selling beer, even if it was a family business. But he bought the story and asked her if she'd seen a pair of fraternal twins, and she said no. After that, he left to question another person.
'Good work,' Arjen told her. They had read a lot of books about the lives of commoners, and she probably developed that story from one of them. Arien said nothing, and when he looked at her, her eyes remained fixed on her feet.
The knights questioned people like they were interrogating witnesses. They asked every person about a pair of twins, but never explained why. It sounded as though twins were criminals who had offended the imperial family somehow. A wry smile touched Arjen's lips. The truth was worse than that. He would've preferred to be a criminal than a bastard child. At least criminals weren't viewed as inherently dirty.
When the knights finally finished up, they dismissed everyone back to their homes. People grumbled as they dispersed, and some gathered together to discuss what happened. The knights mounted their horses and quickly thundered away, probably to awaken the next village.
Arjen watched them vanish into the night. 'Go in ahead of me,' he said to Arien. 'I'll follow in a few minutes.' After making sure she was back inside the inn, he crept close to some of the gathered townsfolk to listen to their conversation.
"What's the emergency? What does the emperor want with a couple of kids?" said one.
"Who knows? Maybe they stole something from him?" replied another.
"Who would be dumb enough to steal from the imperial family? They'd never get away with it!"
"Maybe it's something else, then?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know, maybe they're his illegitimate children?"
The group erupted in laughter, and Arjen's face burned hot with embarrassment.
"No way, not the emperor! I've heard he's too straight-laced for that. He never got married again after the empress died, and his love for her was no secret."
"You're right. The only way he'd ever have bastard children is if someone tricked him into it. Or the mother would have to get pregnant without having sex with him!"
The group laughed again at the absurdity of that thought.
"The emperor wouldn't hesitate to get rid of illegitimate children if he had them," said a third person more seriously. "He wouldn't want that stain on his reputation."
"I think you're right."
Stains. Shame gnawed at Arjen's soul and he couldn't stand to listen anymore. What would people say if they found out the emperor really did have illegitimate children? Is that why the knights didn't say why they were looking for a pair of twins? Were they trying to hide the truth so they wouldn't tarnish the emperor's image?
When he returned to the room at the inn, Arien was standing by the window overlooking the street, watching the people outside. She turned to him and worry crossed her delicate features. "Arjen, what's wrong?"
He hadn't noticed the tears streaming down his face. He tried to wipe them away, but Arien hurried over and pulled him into a hug. "It's just..." he began. "It's—"
"Shhh. They're going away now."
Arjen rested his cheek top of her head. Why did it hurt so much what those people had said? Rurahel had said worse than that, insulting them daily about how disgusting they were, that they were an embarrassment to the imperial family. She had told them that since they were born. By now they should be used to it, but it still hurt after all these years. Why?
"That was too close," Arien said. "I think we should leave tonight in case they come back."
It was a tempting thought, but he didn't like that idea. The knights were probably swarming the area, and if they found a teenage girl and boy running together in the middle of the night...? "No, we should stay," he said. "They've already decided we're not here."
"I was so scared when he came over to talk to me. I thought I was going to throw up. I kept thinking how his sword could cut me in half with one swipe."
His thoughts went to the sword from his dream. Its strength had sent power through his veins, giving him a confidence he'd never had. If only he could feel that confidence again. After tonight, his confidence had deflated.
"We'll leave before the sun rises," he said. "I'll change my hair to black, and you should change yours to a different color, too, at least until we get to Aramore."
"Huh? Why?"
"Those knights will be out there. One of them might remember us—"
"But how? They talked to so many people."
"We need to do whatever it takes to throw them off our trail. The little things matter." Perhaps he was being overly cautious, but he feared the one small detail that would give them away. People always talked about how the emperor was a genius. Everyone in the imperial family was. The twins were stupid by comparison. He would notice one small detail, no matter how minor.
Arien sighed and looked back at her bed sadly. "Okay. But I don't know if I'll be able to sleep anymore tonight. I keep thinking they'll come back."
"I know how you feel. But I think we're safe for the moment."
"I wonder how long they'll keep looking for us?"
"I don't know. I'm hoping that once we get to Aramore, we'll be able to blend in better. There are supposed to be more people there, so it'll be easier for us to hide."
"I hope so."
They returned to their beds, but it was just like his sister had said. He had trouble getting back to sleep because he feared the return of the knights, but he also feared the return of Rurahel in his nightmares.