The Liars

by Hashmi, Heraa

  Memory rolled her eyes. “I know. I won’t mess up.”

  “I hope not.”

  As promised, she got herself a newer phone, and desperately wished she could get one for Lulu but explaining to her how she suddenly got the money to afford such things would be complicated.

  Not to mention the box of colored contacts she’d received. Thin, bright blue ones–perfect for concealing the dark hue of her eyes, although they were a pain to put in.

  She dreaded the hour where she’d have to start packing, and waited until the last minute to do so. She ran around her apartment, packing even the smallest of trinkets before realizing she’d probably be living in a palace and stuffed bears weren’t really necessary to haul along.

  At the age of nineteen, Memory felt like it was a blessing. A cursed blessing. True, what she was about to do would throw her into jail, if caught, but that wasn’t going to happen. She’d do everything in her power to escape unscathed. Just go in, convince the old woman to write her into the will, and then leave.

  Go in, come out, live a free life. That’s all.

  “Lulu,” Memory started as she pulled her suitcase onto the bus, “I promise everything will get better.”

  Her sister, who’d waken up in the wee hours of the morning just accompany her to the bus stop, rubbed her eyes and yawned.

  “Huh?”

  Chuckling, Memory waved as the vehicle started moving. “I love you!”

  “I love you too!” Her sister smiled sleepily and waved back. Even as she faded away, Memory kept her eyes trained at the spot Lulu had been standing in.

  She would really miss her.

  To make things less complicated and so that the media wasn’t on their tail, Prince Cassian left one hour before Memory and flew home on his private jet. Meanwhile, she was taking a local flight and was supposed to meet up with him outside the palace gates. A car would be waiting for her at the airport.

  “The head maid, Diana, will be there.” He’d said. But sitting awkwardly outside the airport, watching people filter in and out and give her pitying looks as she waited for her ride, she seriously doubted it.

  The plane ride itself had been nasty. She had sat in the corner of the back of the plane, next to a large woman who snored loudly and a man who wouldn’t stop talking. While a one hour flight wasn’t much to complain about, it was enough to cause an aching back.

  As Memory rubbed her shoulders, moaning when a dull pain flourished around her neck, a rundown car approached her, slowing to a stop. She barely noticed as the person in the front seat rolled down the window and started crying.

  “Oh, Jade.”

  Memory looked up at that, and raised an eyebrow. Wasn’t a limo or something supposed to be coming for her? She felt slightly embarrassed that the point of coming separately had been to look less conspicuous, and obviously a limo would defeat the point.

  The woman who had exclaimed her “name” started to cry, tumbling out of the front seat and engulfing her in a bone-crushing hug. While Memory gasped for air, two others got out of the car and stuffed what little bags she had into the trunk.

  The woman let go only to smother Memory’s face with kisses.

  “I just knew you were alive.” The woman choked out. She was in her-mid fifties with her hair in the process of graying. She wore plain black and white clothes and no makeup. “I never stopped believing.”

  Memory, still shocked from the kisses, barely squeaked when the woman stepped back and curtsied, looking horrified.

  “Oh, pardon me Princess…I don’t know what came over me.”

  “Um.” Memory cleared her throat. “It-it’s fine.” She croaked, glancing at the two others who’d accompanied the odd woman.

  One was a tall man who was clearly a chauffeur from his hat and suit. The other was a young maid, probably in her mid twenties, and her expression was that of clear distaste. Her dark eyes raked over Memory once before they turned to the older woman, who was still crying.

  “We have clear orders, Miss.” She said snootily. “We need to go.”

  “Yes yes,” The old woman waved her hands about. “Let’s go.” She grabbed Memory by the arm and held open the door, and she reluctantly slid in, hating the way the car creaked as she did so.

  This is not going to be a fun car ride.

  Sugrove, Helviera was a city of dreams and illusion. While the royal family clearly valued nature, the man-made things were unbelievable. It was like Memory had traveled five hundred years into the future, not five hundred miles east.

  The buildings were so tall they stretched into the clouds. The roads–much to her surprise and absolute dread–were glass like, shimmering as they swept around each other in loops. At one point, when the chauffeur drove them over a bridge, Memory peaked outside the window only to see the park underneath her with all the children playing.

  It made her nauseous.

  Even the billboards weren’t ones she was used to–they were 3D, and holographic. Was that the word? The people in the ads actually moved. They flickered in and out and spun around, making Memory dizzy with fright.

  “Do you remember me, dear?”

  The old woman, Memory quickly learned, loved to talk.

  “I-I’m sorry.” She hesitantly spoke. “I don’t remember much.”

  “What a shame. So young when you were taken.” The old woman raked her rough hands through Memory’s tangled hair. She sniffed. “It’s only expected.”

  “Diana, focus.” The young woman sitting in the front next to the chauffeur coughed. “No time for these…outbursts.”

  The old woman, Diana, reached over and thwacked the young maid on the shoulder. “Of course you wouldn’t understand. You’re only a maid in training, and you weren’t here when princess Jade disappeared. His majesty’s wedding had been such a wonderful affair up until that point.”

  Memory blatantly ignored the conversation, still awed by the sights in Sugrove.

  “How long until we get there?” She asked the chauffer, who had remained quiet up until that point.

  “Four minutes, princess.”

  It unnerved her, how she was already referred to someone she wasn’t. How she was going to survive these three months, she had no idea.

  When they got to the hotel, a fairly normal looking one (compared to everything else Memory had seen so far in this city), the chauffer took all her bags up to her room, which had already been paid for.

  The room was adequate, definitely bigger than Memory’s own room at home. She immediately jumped onto the bed, tired from the travel, and failed to notice when Diana joined her.

  “I will be staying with you until his highness comes to pick you up.”

  Memory, who’d been looking forward to a few hours alone, groaned. But at Diana’s odd look, she strained to smile.

  “I’m just tired.”

  Diana nodded understandingly. “Would you like me to run the shower, dear?”

  Sighing, Memory nodded. “Why not?”

  Diana obediently got up and entered the bathroom, at which point Memory realized she had a maid. A maid to order around at her will. It scared her more than she wanted to admit, and after shouting a thank you, unpacked her suitcase, glanced at the picture of Lulu she’d stuffed into the side pocket, and pulled her clothes out.

  It was later that night, after a well-deserved shower and room service (Diana wouldn’t stop asking her questions but Memory answered none), that she was finally able to call Cassian. Diana excused herself to use the restroom outside, since to her, using the same one as the Princess was unspeakable, and at that point Memory dashed for her cell phone and dialed his number.

  When his sleepy voice filtered through, Memory nearly cried for happiness.

  “Dude, I can’t do this. Diana won’t leave me alone. I’m so confused, what am I supposed to do? She keeps expecting me to remember all this stuff but I can’t, obviously, and what if–?” Memory rambled on, barely noticing Prince Cassian’s groan on the other end. />
  “Can this wait?”

  “No, it can’t! I can’t do this. I don’t know what I agreed to. I’m so stupid, what am I–

  “We have larger issues at hand.”

  Memory stopped flailing her hands around at that, her curiosity piqued. “What, what happened?”

  “I let King Darius know of Jade’s return, but before anything else can happen, he is sending some of his trusted doctors to verify you are his daughter.”

  His voice sounded strained, and Memory, as slow as she was, took a few minutes before she grasped the severity of the situation.

  “Paternity test?”

  “Yes. I expected this would happen, but not at such a short notice. It won’t be easy to confound the results, but it’s doable.”

  Memory slapped her forehead, hoping he didn’t hear it. “I can’t believe how far you’re going to keep this up. I still think it would’ve been easier to just say that Jade wasn’t found.”

  “It doesn’t matter what you think, Memory.” He sounded detached and almost…sad. When Memory didn’t respond, he sighed. “I’m going to sleep. Meanwhile, you stick to what you’re paid to be doing. I shall see you tomorrow.”

  Memory opened her mouth to ask another question when Diana burst in, changed into her nightclothes. Jumping, Memory turned around and grasped the phone.

  “Love you too, brother!” She said in a rush and hung up, smiling when Diana gave her quizzical look.

  “Calling, this late?”

  “I–um–I just can’t wait to see my, uh, brother.” Memory sunk to the bed, inwardly gagging. If she had a brother that arrogant, she would’ve run away from home at the first chance.

  The lights turned off, the two finally went to bed. It was then that Memory realized that it was the first time the Prince had ever said her first name.

  Chapter 5

  Diana rarely left her alone. The only times were when she excused herself to the restroom or went down to complain about the slow service, which was about once every three hours. Memory wanted to pull out her hair by the time the old woman started talking about Jade’s younger days.

  “You were such a beauty, all right.” She said, sighing wistfully. “Not that you aren’t now, princess. But back then, all the boys would chase you, pulling on your hair at every chance. It was rather adorable.”

  Memory, in the process of texting Lulu, looked up. “Diana.” She started suddenly. “Do you have any children?”

  Diana blinked, as if she’d never been asked the question. She was taken aback. “Princess?”

  It wouldn’t be completely nonsensical to try and make friends with the head maid, Memory decided.

  “You seem to like children.” Memory pointed out. “When did you start working at the palace, then?”

  “I’m flattered, princess, that…you asked these questions but I don’t think it’s alright if…” She trailed off awkwardly and Memory waved her hands around.

  “Nonsense. I hate hearing about myself. Tell me about you.” At that, Diana had no choice but to follow orders.

  “Well, I–” It was the first time in sixteen hours of knowing her that the head maid was flustered and rendered speechless. Memory smiled warmly, although inside her eyes were rolling countless times.

  “I…when I was young, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.” Diana sighed, gripping the hem of her shirt. “I traveled to France and had many romances. I never got married. When my parents passed, I had no source of income. I was too old, but I still came to Sugrove looking for a job.”

  “I see.” Memory felt pity for her, but quickly crushed it. “What happened? Did King Darius…my father…give you a job?”

  “Oh, actually, it was…” When Diana paused, Memory urged her on. “My friend worked as a maid. She snuck me in.” She said in a rush, and immediately stood up, bowing. “Forgive me!” She cried.

  Memory, at the thought of Diana as a young woman trying to sneak into the palace like some sort of thief, burst out into laughter. That was certainly a feat no one average could manage without getting caught.

  Surprised, Diana slowly straightened up, face expressionless. “Princess?”

  “Well, I congratulate you. No one found out.” Memory kept chuckling as she resumed to her texting. “I’ll keep it a secret. No worries.”

  Diana’s eyes welled up with tears. “You are too kind, princess. Too kind.”

  And all of a sudden, like the past conversation never happened, Diana yanked the phone out of Memory’s hands and jumped and down like a schoolgirl. She had a surprising amount of energy for an elderly.

  “That reminds me! His highness asked me that I make sure you look presentable.” Diana grinned wickedly. “To the salon we go!”

  “But–but–”

  Diana, seemingly comfortable with talking about her past now, chattered on and on about her past romances in Paris, the city of love. She talked about this one man who she thought was a sweetheart but ended up being a serial killer.

  Memory herself wasn’t faring any better, having hair pulled out of places she didn’t even know hair grew in. By the time the waxing was done, she felt like a naked mole rat.

  She was then shoved into the hairstyling room, when her hair was tugged on so much she was sure half of it fell out. To her chagrin, the stylists didn’t do a completely horrible job, her hair looking better than it had in a year. It fell in smooth burgundy curls to her mid-back, and looked rather shiny.

  I feel like one of those girls in those overly-rated chick flicks.

  Diana banned her from wearing any of the clothes Memory had brought with her, instead taking her to a expensive shop where all clothing was tailored.

  “They will be custom fit.” Diana explained, raking through a wide selection of gowns. “Choose the styles and colors you want. Personally, I think this brings out the blue in your eyes.” She held up a fluffy midnight blue gown, and Memory nearly puked.

  She tried to run away, but Diana kept her on a leash, not letting her stray from her side for more than a second.

  So she was thankful when her phone buzzed, and lo and behold, it was Prince Cassian.

  Excusing herself, she crouched in a corner, aware that Diana was eyeing her curiously.

  “Oh thank god.” Memory huffed. “Never thought the day I was thankful to hear from you would come.”

  He didn’t think she was funny and instead cut to the chase. “Tell Jones, your driver, to take you to the hospital. Diana should be getting a call soon from the palace doctors.” He sounded rushed. “I will meet you there.”

  Memory broke out in a cold sweat. This was the first hurdle they had to pass, and if they didn’t, her charade would end before it even started.

  Like Prince Cassian had said, Diana got a call right after, and she nodded obediently.

  “Dear,” She smiled, “I know how much you love shopping, but we have to go to the hospital at the moment.” She gripped her arm tightly as she led her out of the shop. “Of course, I firmly believe you are the Princess. I recognized you the moment I saw you at the airport. But–just for record’s sake–they’ll be doing a quick test. It won’t take long.”

  Memory nodded stiffly, her heart beating as she slid into the car.

  The young maid’s name was Sarah. And she was quiet, except when she wasn’t. And when she wasn’t, she was really rude.

  “Diana, we don’t know if she is the Princess yet.” She snarled. “It could be a lie for all we know.”

  Memory paled at that–could she know–before Diana hit her over the head.

  “Do you doubt his highness’ judgment? He spent almost a year away from the palace just to look for her. Be thankful. Have you no respect?”

  “I don’t have to bow until we know for sure–” Sarah protested, but Diana cut her off as the car skidded to a stop in front of the largest hospital Memory had ever seen in her life.

  “I can kick you out at a snap of my fingers, miss Sarah.” Diana said coldly. “You best
remember that.”

  Memory was taken inside through a back entrance and led to a small room where two doctors were waiting for her. They took a sample of her saliva, some hair, and extracted nearly two vials of blood. Diana almost fainted but Memory simply watched as the doctors pushed the needle in. One of them, an expressionless female, flatly commented on how nonchalant she seemed.

  “It looks like red water.” Memory murmured. She’d never been afraid of blood, and was intrigued by how blood looked the same no matter who you took it from. To her, it proved that in the end, all human’s had an equal standing.

  “The results will be in tomorrow.” The female said in a monotone voice.

  Diana led her out, and bumped into Prince Cassian. He took no note of her, even when she curtsied gracefully, and pulled Memory outside.

  While he wore a silver crown on his head that practically screamed “I’m the Prince, look at me!” he looked exhausted and nothing like a prince. He had dark circles under his eyes and his usual olive skin was flaky and almost yellow.

  “You look tired.”

  He smirked, and she inwardly sighed. Not too tired to smirk, though.

  “Duly noted.” He said quietly, clearing his throat. His gaze was as intense as ever, and it made Memory feel like he was staring into her soul or something. “The easiest way would be to bribe the doctors, although that would take an immense amount of money and–”

  “You can’t just bribe your way out of everything.” Memory cut in. “Besides, the less people that know, the better.”

  There was a moment of silence, and then he chuckled. Loudly.

  “It appears that you do have a brain, miss Confiance.”

  “I’m just trying to survive.” Memory retorted, before adding “idiot” under her breath. If he heard, he didn’t make mention of it.

  “I’ll have to do all the legwork, then.” He stopped briefly, staring at her hair. “Diana?”

  Memory’s hands shot up to smooth her hair. “It wasn’t my fault.” She said defensively. “The woman is crazy. And we aren’t even done with the makeover yet.”