As the townsfolk behind me gasped and gaped at the spectacle playing out before them, I glared at the foreigner embracing my wife—a man who had not only just called her by name, but who had also called her his love. My ears flattening in anger, I stepped forward and pulled Avani from his grasp. She looked up at me, bewildered and upset, and I put my arm protectively around her. “Who are you, and what is it that you want with my wife?” I growled.
“Sir!” one of the guards said, stepping forward and saluting. “These foreigners appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the street by the dock! We tried to detain them, but they were very determined, sir! The silver-haired young lady in particular is quite spirited!” Avani nodded to him, dismissing him, and I again turned my eyes to the strange man as I awaited his reply.
He turned his face in my direction. “You must be Leon,” he replied in a light tenor voice with an oddly familiar, lilting accent, and I started in surprise to hear him speak my name. “I will gladly answer your questions, but I think we should remove to somewhere more… well, private.”
I stared angrily at him, my ears still flattened, then the lilac-haired woman moved where I could see her more clearly. As I glanced at her, she looked at me beseechingly, and in a gentle voice, she simply said, “Please?”
We stared at each other, her imploring eyes meeting mine for several moments before she looked down at the ground. I looked at Avani, who, after a moment’s hesitation, gave a barely perceptible nod. “Fine,” I said, curtly. “Guards, you may release them and return to your patrol. I’m sure Forte will discuss this incident with you later.” Keeping my arm around Avani, I pushed through the group that had encircled us and out the door. “Follow me,” I said.
“Wait,” Dylas called after me. “I’m coming, too. I don’t know what’s going on, but I want to be there in case you need me.”
As I nodded agreement, Arthur pushed through the crowd, saying, “And I, too, will come.” I looked at him in surprise, and he smiled. “After all, it’s my duty to know what is going on in this town, especially when it concerns my father’s representative here.”
I gave him a faint smile and said, “All right. You and Dylas may both accompany us.” Then turning back to the townsfolk as they stared after us, bewildered and curious, I called back to them. “Please excuse us for now. Just go on with the party—we’ll rejoin you when we are able.” As Dylas pulled the doors closed behind us, I could hear Deasún strike up a lively tune on his mandolin while Margaret loudly exclaimed in dismay—apparently Porcoline had devoured quite a lot of the food while everyone was distracted.
Regaining her composure as we made our way through the dimly lit streets to the front door of our castle home, Avani again took the lead, though she still seemed wary of the strange man. As we walked, I glanced back behind me. The three strangers walked immediately behind us, first the man and the lilac-haired woman, who was carefully guiding him along the unfamiliar path, then the silver-haired woman behind them, and Arthur and Dylas brought up the rear. I called back to our unexpected visitors, “What are your names?”
The man replied, “I am called Rishi. My wife’s name is Sharmila, and behind us is Chanda.”
“Wife?” I said, scowling. I wondered what he was playing at then, calling my wife his ‘love’ when apparently he was a married man—and doing so in front of his own wife, at that. Just then, we reached the entrance to our rooms. Avani unlocked the door and entered first to light the lamps as we followed. I directed the three strangers to sit on the sofa while I built up the fire, which was no more than coals. Although it was spring, the nights were still cool in our northern town. A fire would be very welcome, and not just for warmth—it would also provide additional light.
There weren’t enough seats for everyone in our small sitting area, so I waved Arthur to one chair while leading Avani to the other. Dylas stood behind Arthur’s chair, and I stood behind my wife and scowled at the trio.
“So,” I began, “you say your names are Rishi, Sharmila, and Chanda. But who are you? You aren’t from around here—your clothes and your accent give that away readily enough. What is your business here? And how is it that you know my wife’s name—and mine, for that matter?”
“Allow me to begin by giving you my full name and title. I am Rishi kumara Acanda, and I am the Ra’mara—the prince, or leader—of my tribe, the Ventuani. Your wife is Avani kumari Acanda—my sister.”
You could have heard a pin drop, the room was so still.
“Y-your… your what?” Avani stammered after a moment, pale and unsteady.
“My twin sister, to be precise.”
Looking down at my wife’s ashen face in concern, I turned to the stranger who claimed kinship with her. “I don’t know if what you say is true, but I must insist that you go gently with my wife. She has amnesia, and remembers nothing before her arrival here, save her first name.”
He nodded sympathetically. “Yes, I know. I am the one responsible for her memory loss.”
“You… you what?” Dylas roared, glaring balefully at him as he took a step towards him, his fists clenched.
Avani stood up and looked at him. “Dylas, please calm down.” Turning to Rishi, she said, “Please explain what you mean. How are you responsible? I lost my memory in an accident. Are you… are you saying that you caused the accident? Did you send those soldiers against me?” She sat down again quickly, trembling, as the implications of his words and hers suddenly sank in.
I placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, then glared at the man, though I knew he couldn’t see my expression. “Is that true? Did you do this to her—to the one you now claim as your sister?” From across the room, I heard the sound of Dylas cracking his knuckles, apparently preparing himself for a fight.
Rishi held up a hand. “Please, you misunderstand me. I did not cause her accident; I caused her memory loss. Though the two appear on the surface to be related, they are, in fact, not—other than in their timing.” He sighed and rose, turning towards Avani. “Perhaps this conversation would make more sense if I were to first restore your memory, my love.”
“Will you stop calling her that?” I snapped, sensing her discomfort with his familiarity, and ill at ease with his use of that term of endearment myself, stranger that he was to us both.
“My apologies. That was ever our customary form of address, as the bond between us was a very close one. But for now, I will try to refrain, at least until her memory has been restored. May I now begin the process, my dear sister?”
She looked up at him uncertainly. “What… what is it you want to do to me exactly?”
“It’s difficult to explain, especially since you don’t remember any of our history. In essence, I have blocked the part of your mind that stores all of your memories up until the moment you awoke from your accident. I sensed a little leakage here and there over the past year or two, but for the most part, the barrier holds firm. I need only remove that barrier, and you will remember… everything.”
“I don’t like the idea of a stranger—who may or may not be a relative—messing around in my wife’s head,” I said sternly.
But Avani looked up at me, then stood and gently stroked my cheek. She turned to face Rishi, and calmly said, “You may proceed.” I started to protest, but she placed a finger on my lips. “No, Leon. It’s time. If he really is who he says… if he really can bring back my memories… isn’t it better to know the truth about my past than to turn and flee from it? Remember, you and Dylas once told me that I cried out his name in my sleep—his, and one other’s. So it’s not inconceivable that he’s telling the truth. And… I want to know.”
I stepped back then, despite my concerns. Rishi held out his hand to her, and she stepped forward to face him. “I must warn you,” he said, his brow furrowed, “that the sudden influx of memory may be a shock to you. Especially as some of your memories… well, to say that some of them are not pleasant is an understatement. Are you prepared for this?”
She straightened up. “Will… will it harm my baby?” she asked, a flicker of fear passing over her face.
The woman called Sharmila stepped forward. “May I?” Avani and I looked at her, uncertain of her intentions. “I am one of the seers of our people as well as the wife of your brother,” she explained. “I will attempt to ascertain if your child will come to harm, though it seems unlikely as long as you both are in good health.”
Avani hesitated a moment, then nodded. Sharmila stepped forward and placed her hands on the roundness of her belly and closed her eyes in concentration. A moment later they flew open, and she looked, startled, into Avani’s eyes. After a slight pause, she removed her hands, saying, “Your children will not come to harm anytime in the very near future.”
“Children?” I said, sharply.
“What… what do you mean?” Avani asked, her eyes wide.
“Did you not know that you carry twins? I didn’t realize that Rishi had blocked your memories so completely that you even lost your awareness of our genetic heritage. Yet somehow, you still…. Well, all that aside, like you and your brother, your children are male and female. I’m surprised you were unable to sense even that, even if you weren’t aware that you should be able to do so.”
“I… I think perhaps I might have,” she replied, faintly. “Only, I misinterpreted it. Leo asked if I thought we’d be having a boy or a girl, and I couldn’t tell which—I felt equally pulled both directions. I thought I just didn’t know, but maybe it was because there was one of each.”
“Quite likely. Anyway, you are safe to proceed. But as Rishi warned you, this may be a shock to you. I suggest that you lie down first, to make it easier on you. You… could lose consciousness, if you become overwhelmed.”
Avani looked up at me, apprehensive yet determined to go through with it, and then slowly walked over to the bed and lay down. I pulled a blanket over her, in case she really did go into shock, then I sat next to her and held her hand. I looked over at Rishi and asked. “All right, what next? Do you need to… lay hands on her or anything?”
He turned our direction and smiled. “Contact strengthens the connection between us significantly, but it is not strictly necessary. It will help if I may touch her—just a hand on her head is enough. However, as much as it pains me, I realize that for now, I am only a stranger to her. So if my touch alarms or distresses her, I will refrain.”
Avani looked up at me and I smiled at her reassuringly. “Fear not, My Lady. Whatever happens, I’m right here with you.”
She smiled then, and looked at Rishi. “It’s okay. Do whatever you need to do.”
Sharmila guided Rishi over to the bed, and I suggested she bring a chair from the kitchen for him to sit on. She did so, and Rishi sat down next to Avani and held out his hand. Sharmila placed his palm on Avani’s forehead and stepped back behind his seat, watching closely. I noticed that she bit her lip as if in concern or fear, and that there were tears welling up in her eyes. I quickly looked back at Avani, who had closed her eyes as she waited patiently to face the unknown.
“Here we go. Brace yourself. I… I wish I could somehow ease this for you, my… my sister.”
I don’t know what I expected—a flash of light, a burst of noise… something. But nothing seemed to happen, at least, nothing apparent to mere observers. But after a moment, Avani’s eyes flew open, and she stared, unseeing, at the ceiling as a wide range of emotions flickered rapidly across her face: happiness and joy and curiosity were predominant at first, mingled with the stubbornness that I knew so well. Quickly, new emotions entered the mix: love, and dismay, and anger, and soon afterwards, loathing and despair. Before much longer, the earlier emotions of happiness and joy had all but vanished, and the loathing and despair became the predominant emotions. Then stark terror filled her eyes, erasing all traces of any other emotion, and she struggled to rise. Her mouth opened as if to cry out, but no sound emerged. Then she fell back, senseless.
I looked up, panicked despite the warning that had been given, as I clung tightly to her hand. “Is she… will she be all right? What is it? What happened?” I was surprised to see tears not only in Sharmila’s eyes, but also in Rishi’s. Even Chanda, who had quietly crept over to us, had a suspicious moisture on her cheeks.
Rishi nodded slowly as he rose. “She… she will be as well as can be expected. She… has remembered….” His voice faltered, and he closed his eyes and turned away, leaning against Sharmila for support.
“Remembered what? What is it that filled her with such terror?”
Chanda slipped between Rishi and the bed and knelt down next to Avani, gently stroking her pale cheek with a gloved hand as she gazed at her. Without looking away from her face, she whispered, “Her wedding night.”