The moment she heard that one of the seated women could be her real mother, Elizabeth’s heart skipped a beat. All her life she had wondered what her mother looked and acted like. If she was anything like her? Ad now that she knew her mother was alive, the only question left was: Why had she abandoned Elizabeth?
“There are only two? Are two of us sisters?” Renee joked, though it was clear to everyone that she wasn’t completely sold on being related to the other two girls, let alone sisters. But in a way, it made sense. How else could they explain why they all looked so much alike?
“No, you three are cousins. The other one is not here,” Rico’s father explained.
“Where is she?” Elizabeth asked dryly. In the back of her mind she had a feeling that the one missing was her mother. But she didn’t want to believe it. It had already been eighteen years since she had seen her mother; she was hoping that the wait would finally be over.
Rico’s father shook his head and collapsed his long fingers together. “I don’t know. Only they do, and if you three would give me a minute, I could explain everything.”
Elizabeth nodded, then slowly made her way towards the women whose backs were still turned to them. They had not said a word since the girls’ arrival, had only held hands, as if trying to reassure one another that everything was going to be alright, all while trying so hard not to look behind them, not to lower their guards.
“So, is one of you my mother?” Elizabeth asked softly, a bit scared that the answer would be “no.”
“I’ll answer that question in due time. But for now—Mark, Justin, your houses have already been set up for you, so you can take your families and get settled in; just follow Sam,” Rico’s father explained.
Mark sighed. “Come along kids; it’s time to say goodbye to your sister,” he ordered.
“What?” Kaylin asked, disappointed. “I don’t want to,” she cried, holding on to Renee.
“You have to. At least for now,” Cara said with a weak smile. “She will see you later,” she assured her children, but the way she said it sounded as if she could only hope that would be the case.
“Promise?” TaKayla asked, looking from her parents to her sister.
Renee held up three fingers then smiled at her sisters. “Promise,” she said, though she was still shocked at the revelation. Her family then hugged Elizabeth, whose eyes were locked on the two women in front of her.
“Everything will be fine, Lizzy,” Cara said.
“I know,” Elizabeth replied.
“I’ll see you later, sweet pea.” Justin said, hugging Jasmine.
“Be good, okay? Don’t give your mother a hard time,” Caroline said through tears, as if saying those words was like choking on acid.
Jasmine nodded, unsure of what Caroline meant.
“See you later sis,” Ethan said, hugging Jasmine. Then he walked away from her to Elizabeth, who was watching Renee’s and Jasmine’s adoptive families as they followed Sam out of the room. The girls stood there sadly, except for Elizabeth, who was more curious about the women in the chairs than anything that was going on with Renee, Jasmine, or their families.
“See you later, Lizzy,” Ethan said softly.
“See you later,” Elizabeth said, with a sweet smile. Ethan then gave her a long, bear-type hug that made her feel extremely uncomfortable. “Okay, you can let go now,” she said, her eyes moving awkwardly back and forth. “We live in the same village; I’m sure we’ll see each other later.”
Rico laughed and shook his head, amazed at how clueless she was.
Ethan then released her and gave Rico a look that screamed, touch her and die.
“Okay, let’s go,” Sam said, trying hard not to laugh. And with that, the family left.
“Did I miss something?” Elizabeth asked the room, feeling embarrassed.
“You always miss something, but your friends will explain later. Right now could you please do what my father asked, and sit down?” Rico asked slyly.
“Aren’t you supposed to be standing there like a good little soldier, only speaking when you are spoken to?” Elizabeth asked sarcastically. “I think you should practice that,” she said, taking a seat next to one of the women and staring intensely at her, trying to see her face.
“I’m going to miss them,” Renee said through tears. She and Jasmine were too busy in their own worlds to pay Elizabeth any attention. They knew she was clueless, so listening to her would have been pointless.
“Yeah, me too. So is one of you my mother?” Elizabeth asked, depressed to finally come face to face with the woman she had heard so much about but never seen.
“Really, Lizzy, this was a very dramatic moment for us,” Renee replied.
“We live in the same village; you’ll see them at home,” Elizabeth retorted. “Now about my mom: is it one of you?” she asked, drawing her attention back to the women in front of her, who couldn’t help but laugh at her directness.
“I’m sorry Lizzy,” one of the women finally said as they both turned around to face the girls. They were beautiful and identical, with long, flowing brown hair, and a mole on each of their eyelids. Their faces were perfectly round and smooth, and they had high cheekbones and naturally plump lips. The one who had spoken first had eyes as blue as the sky, while the other had the most beautiful purple eyes the girls had ever seen. They were in awe.
“Neither of us is your mother, but you act just like her,” the purpled-eyed woman replied.
Elizabeth sat back, disappointed that her fears had come true. First her father had gone missing, and now the mother she hadn’t even known she’d had was missing as well. This thought alone made her feel as if the entire world had come crashing down on her. “Oh,” she managed to say.
“You’re our mothers?” Jasmine asked, shocked at how beautiful they were, and finally seeing the resemblance.
“That’s what I’m going to look like when I’m her age?” Renee asked. “I can’t wait.”
The women laughed.
“They’re laughing, but I’m serious,” Renee replied.
“Could you girls please sit down next to your mothers?” Rico’s father asked.
“Sure; just tell me which one she is, and I will,” Renee replied.
“Right. Lela is your mother, Jasmine. She’s the one with blue eyes. And Renee, that’s Layla with the purple eyes.”
“Oh, okay,” Jasmine and Renee said, each making sure to sit by their mothers.
“Let me start off by introducing myself. My name is Angelo Cordova and I’m in charge of this operation,” he said, proudly.
“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that,” Elizabeth said, sarcastically.
Angelo laughed. “I guess you’re right. Well anyways, I know you are wondering why you were brought here and who these people are that are chasing you.”
“Well we already know that the king is chasing us; we had a run in with his men after we left the village. And we kind of know why—it has to do with some ultimate power that we can supposedly lead them to. I don’t know; it sounds stupid to me,” Renee said, trying to remember the conversation she’d had with the other members of the group before it had fallen apart.
“Rico, I thought I told you not to say anything,” Angelo said, disappointed.
“It wasn’t me,” Rico explained. “It happened a couple of days ago. They heard about it from some people who were from their village, but no one guessed it had anything to do with them.”
“Right,” Angelo said, sarcastically and a bit disappointed. “Well Renee, you are halfway right. But in order to understand this, you will need to know the story from the beginning,” he declared as he placed his fingers on the table. He looked from girl to girl, and then began to tell the story that they had been dying to hear since they had left home.
“It started 25 years ago. Ramos had been ruling the kingdom for about five years, and it was in shambles. His father before him had been a just and fine ruler, whom everyone had loved and looked up
to. But on Ramos’ twenty-second birthday, his father died of a suspicious disease—and with his life went the prosperity of the kingdom. Within his first two years as King, Ramos had completely undone what his father had spent years building. The kingdom’s military was stronger, but its people had become like sheep. In no time at all, the once-genuine kingdom became one of the most fearsome and suppressed kingdoms in all the land.”
“What does this have to do with us?” Renee asked.
“This is just background; I’m getting there. In the third quarter of Ramos’ second year of reign, a prophet predicted the birth of three of the most powerful witches this world may ever see—with their powers, they would be able to either destroy the world or bring peace to it. These three witches would be born to three sisters, on the same night and at the same time, and anyone who could control them would control the world.”
“But that was 25 years ago; what does it have to do with us?” Jasmine proclaimed.
“I thought it was an object that they were supposed to lead them to,” Renee added.
“Well, that’s where people tend to get it wrong. The prophecy was written that way for a reason: to protect the girls. But the plan backfired. For seven years after that, King Ramos as well as many other kings from different nations tried desperately to locate those girls, killing hundreds of people along the way. They were close to giving up until eighteen years ago, when you three were born. That’s when Prince James took you from your mothers in order to hide you away from the kings, with the hope that just maybe you would be able to have normal lives.” Angelo looked at his hands and then back up at the girls, as if it pained him to continue. “But sadly, it didn’t happen that way. A couple of days ago we received word that your village would be under attack, so we did everything in our power to get you and your families here safe, to reunite you with your mothers.”
“What happened to the prince after he took us?” Elizabeth asked, but she already knew. A part of her had always known that he was more than he seemed, especially when people would bring his name up in the village and he would act like hearing it was a curse. At the time, Elizabeth had just thought he didn’t want to hear about it because it was a legend and a waste of time, but she knew better now.
“Well,” Angelo started, “after he gave Renee to Cara and Mark and Jasmine to Caroline and Justin, he kept you for himself.”
Elizabeth closed her eyes and a tear escaped. “Why keep me? Why didn’t he just give me to someone else and then go back to the palace as if nothing had happened?” she asked as all the thoughts of what her father could have been going through at that moment rolled through her mind like a tidal wave.
“We asked him to take care of you girls for us, and he agreed. He knew you were important and he was—is—a really good friend, so he gave up everything in order to protect you,” Lela said, placing her arm on Elizabeth’s shoulder.
“Besides, if he had gone back to the castle, Ramos would have killed him a long time ago,” Layla informed her. “So his keeping you was a good thing.” Layla was trying to assure her, but for some strange reason Elizabeth could tell that she was keeping something from her about her parents. There must be more to the real reason he had chosen to keep her over her cousins.
“And now he’s in the palace, probably being tortured—if not killed—because he decided to sacrifice himself again for me,” Elizabeth said, sulking. “I’m not so important that he should get himself killed for me,” she declared.
“Yes, you are,” Angelo disagreed. “Any father would sacrifice himself to save his child, even if they didn’t have your powers. I know I’d do it in a heartbeat for my son,” he said, looking from Elizabeth to Rico and smiling.
“Tell me something; have you girls ever used your powers?” Angelo asked.
The girls looked at each other, then shook their heads. None of them knew why, but they weren’t completely sure they could trust Angelo yet. He seemed like a nice guy, but they had already been tricked once and none of them was ready to go through that again.
“That’s not true,” Rico announced. His voice was like a soldier’s, reporting to his commander as he stood at attention.
Everyone looked back at him, curious as to what he knew that the girls didn’t.
“The girls just don’t remember doing it,” Rico explained.
“What happened?” His father asked.
“They were attacked by the guards and were almost dragged into the carriage. We fought off as many as we could, but there were too many of them for us to get to the girls. The next thing we knew; the girls were letting out this loud scream. Once it was over, the men were dead, all bleeding from their ears, noses, mouths and even their eyes. It was both horrifying and amazing at the same time,” Rico replied, obviously still in awe as he used his hands for emphasis. “After they were dead, the bodies caught on fire and exploded, leaving no trace of evidence. Then the girls passed out and were asleep for two days.”
“What?” the girls asked, shocked.
“You said the soldiers hit us in the back of our heads with their swords,” squeaked Renee, who was staring at Rico in disbelief, all while wondering, how she could not remember?
Rico bowed his head slightly. “I know, and I apologize for lying to you girls; I was just doing my job.”
“Oddly, that makes more sense,” Jasmine said, thinking about it.
“Wow,” the man standing behind Angelo said, finally speaking. His voice was deep and he seemed nice and very loyal, but there was something in his eyes that the girls did not like.
“I’m sorry, this is my right-hand man, Carlos,” Angelo explained, finally introducing the man behind him.
“Nice to meet you,” The girls said, in unison.
“What else can you do?” Carlos asked, intrigued.
“Carlos,” Angelo snapped.
Carlos lowered his head. “Sorry, sir.”
“Was that the only incident?” Angelo asked.
Rico shook his head.
“Well, it’s obvious that you girls are powerful. But can you control that power?” Angelo asked.
The girls looked down. “No,” they said.
“We didn’t even know we had powers; how could we know how to control them?” Renee asked.
“Good point. But that’s okay. Your mothers will train you in your new-found powers so you can learn how to use them properly,” Angelo explained.
“And what will you get out of this arrangement?” Jasmine asked, sitting back and looking Angelo square in the eye.
“Beg your pardon?” Angelo asked, more amused than baffled.
“Let’s see; you helped save our lives when we were younger after learning about who we were. Then you sent your little soldiers to save our lives again, twenty minutes before the king’s soldiers showed up, just so we could come here and be trained… for what? For you and your war? Sorry, not interested.” Elizabeth said as she stood up to leave. In her eyes, there was nothing this man could offer her that would make her want to stay. Sure, seeing her aunts and learning about her mother from them had been a good thing. But war with a crazy king was not her idea of fun.”
“You’re right; I do want you to help me win this war. But it’s only to protect the people from this evil tyrant,” Angelo explained.
“And who would replace him—you?” Renee asked as she crossed her arms.
Angelo shook his head. “No, of course not. His son would,” Angelo said.
“So you’d substitute one tyrant for another from the same gene pool?” Jasmine asked.
“Crown Prince Joshua is nothing like his father. He’s young, but would be the best person to take the job,” Angelo explained.
“Sure he would be,” Elizabeth snorted. She didn’t care one bit about what Angelo had to say. The only thing on her mind was finding her parents, and the longer she stayed in this room, the more adamant she became about wanting to leave.
“I understand you girls’ concerns. The idea sounds comple
tely ludicrous, but it’s what’s best for the kingdom,” Angelo said.
“What’s best for the kingdom, sir; or what’s best for you?” Renee sneered.
Himself, of course, Jasmine replied. But of course he’s going to say the kingdom.
“Of course the kingdom,” Angelo replied.
Jasmine nodded her head towards Renee and Elizabeth in an attempt to say “I told you so.” They had been through so much in the past week, and had wrongly trusted so many people, that the ideas of Rico’s father seemed like nothing more than the ramblings of a mad man. They wanted no part in any of it.
Angelo sighed, then looked from girl to girl. “I know you don’t trust me, and after everything you’ve been through, I can understand. I can’t see the future and show you clearly that what I am saying is true. However, I can give you my word that unless you decide to help us, we won’t force you,” he said sincerely.
What do you guys think? Jasmine asked.
He’s not forcing us to fight; I think we should take him up on his offer. Besides, we need to learn how to control these powers before something worse happens, Renee stated.
True, but I’m not sure how long that will last. He seems nice, but we all know appearances can be deceiving, Elizabeth replied.
True. But for now, what choice do we have? Jasmine asked.
“Okay. But if you go back on your word…” Renee stated.
“I promise I won’t,” Angelo reaffirmed.
“Then we don’t have a problem,” said Elizabeth.
“Glad that’s taken care of. Now while you’re here, there are some ground rules that you’ll have to follow,” Angelo said.
“Of course there are,” Jasmine said, unfazed.
“Only a few; not a lot,” Angelo assured them. “Rule Number One: You must never tell anyone in the village who you really are. We don’t want to start any kind of panic,” he said.
“No problem,” Renee said.
“Rule Number Two: You must never have any romantic relationship with anyone in the village,” Angelo warned. His attention was more directed at Elizabeth than the others, because of what had happened earlier with Ethan.
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