Traitor to the King: A Tale of the Benaga Sisters

by Clare SM Keating

  “But… but I’ve had to be away from you this long… I can’t cope without you anymore. I need you here to help me Anouk, I need you to show me what I have to do and…” Suddenly Damara was silenced by her sister kissing her cheek fondly, chuckling and then patting Damara’s shoulder. She stood up and paced to the stairwell and clambered up it into the broken room to fetch the book before flicking it open and kneeling beside her. She made sure it was on the very first page where their grandfather had unexpectedly taken the position of Lord Benaga and Damara was startled as she read the same anxiety in her voice scratched onto the paper before looking to her sister. “So… this is not the first time…”

  “No, when grandfather’s eldest brother passed away he was suddenly thrust into a position he did not want and I read through it very carefully when the same happened to me. You will read it all, you will learn that the whole purpose of our family is not tied to just the eldest child…” Anouk stated with a soft expression of affection before looking out to the hollowed-out shell of their home and then giving a soft little chuckle once more. “I need you to do me a favour whilst I’m away, because if I go looking for it there will be suspicions and I won’t get past Molwesa. I want you to find all the documents that our nasty uncle gave to his masters. See if you can find any documents about the time when mother was pregnant with you that are about what happened to me.”

  “But Anouk… what will I find?” Damara questioned, but her sister just shrugged her shoulders and it was clear that she suspected the truth about her own demon encounter was still around. Damara was petrified of what it could be, but she was not sure how the rest of Virenheim could get back to normal after all of this… how much could they do before the next attack? And were Alagpo and Leridan the only traitors in their kingdom?

  To Be Continued….