Chapter 90: Chapter 90

"What happened?" Henry asked, not knowing how he felt at that moment, relived or triggered...

It was just…too much!

" I received a note, asking me to go to the library to meet someone, I went there and nearly got kidnapped, but luckily Dahlia was there, and she saved me..."

"Hold on a second!" Henry interrupted, leaning forward, his brows knitted together.

"You are telling me that you mysteriously received a note, telling you to meet someone, and you went there, Alone, and was almost kidnapped, and this Dahlia was magically there to save the day?! You are kidding me, right?!" Henry's tone was angry no matter how hard he tried to control it, it all sounded too coincidental to be a mere coincidence, not to mention the fact that he felt quite disappointed with his sister's foolishness.

Nara on the other hand rolled her eyes, obviously annoyed with Henry's tone.

"Do you think I am that stupid? Brother, the note was not mysterious as you said, I knew who wrote it and because of who it was I had to go alone, it had nothing to do with Dahlia!".

"Who sent the note then?!"

"It was Nicholas!"

Henry stared at his sister in disbelief, looking at her face, trying to find answers to questions he didn’t dare to ask.

He understood his brother’s betrayal to the crown, but Nara was his twin, they were inseparable since their birth, they had a weird but strong connection and loved each other so much, to think that he would hurt her!

"I still have the note..." Nara said, putting her hand in her dress pocket to get a folded piece of paper out, she handed it to the confused Henry who wasted no time before unfolding it to read it content.

"This is Nicholas's handwriting..." Henry recognized the handwriting even before he recognized the words written on the note, he looked at her for few seconds, concluding the meaning behind it before reading the words out loud.

"Nara...

Meet me alone in the library an hour before sunset, Tell no one as this could be a matter of life and death, you are the only one who can help me, I will be waiting for you, Don't let me down pumpkin.

Your brother.

Nicholas"

Henry read the note several times before lifting his eyes back to his sister, pumpkin was the name Nicholas had given to Nara.

"Was it him?!" Nara sighed deeply at the question before nodding, Henry wore a dark expression at that moment and she didn’t blame him for it, sometimes she wished it was all a lie but she saw the truth with her own eyes.

"Yes, It was him, I ordered the guards to empty that corridor, I know it was a stupid mistake but my ability to think was overshadowed by the thought of seeing one of my family members alive, only that he had changed, he had weird tattoos and symbols, On his face and hands, his head was shaved to the very scalp, And he...behaved weirdly, When I first saw him in the library I was overwhelmed, I run to hug him but he stopped me, caught my arms in the air, his eyes were cold, menacing, Not the eyes of someone seeing his twin sister after so long, he said we needed to go somewhere, Where our Mother was, That rose my suspicions, I mean, he directly asked me to leave, I asked him for the exact location but he refused to tell me, he insisted that I go with him right at that moment and he was really impatient, I told him I needed to grab "something" from my room first, there was nothing but I felt something was wrong, that is when someone came from behind me and closed my mouth shut with his hand, I panicked and struggled, his other hand pinned my arms to my waist so I couldn't move away, I looked at Nicholas, my eyes asking him for help but all I was met with was his cold stare, he asked me to "cooperate" and follow them without resistance if I wanted to stay safe" Nara was a little lost while telling Henry what happened, "Nick was my twin, Henry, we shared a womb, he was a part of me as I was a part of him, but at that moment, he was a total stranger in my brother's skin, his eyes, his eyes were always filled with love toward me, but I couldn't find any of it that day" A tear escaped Nara's eyes at the memory, Henry moved to wipe it away, understanding his sister's sadness.

"Dahlia was in the library that moment, being her usual calm self, no one noticed her, she heard what happened and came to my aid, I must say, I was beyond impressed, she knocked a man twice her size so easily, but then Nick held a dagger to my throat and threatened to kill me if she didn't back away..."

"I'm not quite sure of what happened after as it happened too fast, I closed my eyes in fear for a second and the next thing I know was me being pulled out of Nick's hold, Once I opened my eyes, I was standing behind Dahlia who had a dagger buried in her belly, blood was pouring out of her, I instinctively screamed, loud enough for the guards to hear, Nick ran away once I did but not before slicing his comrade's throat.".

"What did he want with you?" To say that Henry was hurt would be an understatement, To think that his brother tried to kidnap his own twin who happened to be the warden of the kingdom, his brother was lost as there was no forgiveness after such a crime.

"I don't know, but I’m positive they wanted to capture me alive..."

"As for Dahlia, I think she survived the stab since she is here with us now" Henry said with a faint smile, trying to change the subject, it was too stuffed for both of them and he wanted to enjoy the company of his sister a bit longer before he starts dealing with the kingdom’s affairs.

"She did, she is so strong, Brother, and so kind even when she doesn't act like it..."

"You know..." A warm smile crept toward Nara's lips lighting all her face up, "Our family's reputation was crumbling to the ground, As the warden I made sure to stay close to the people, and personally watch after the refugees, The refugees, they chose Dahlia to speak on their behalf because they believed she was the bravest, and she was, she didn't even tremble while being screamed at, she would talk her mind freely no matter who is listening, I found that kind of annoying, I mean, with her behavior you would think she is just a vile heartless woman, but during my visits to the refugees' camps, I saw her, giving her share of food even when she was so hungry, spending all her time taking care of the sick and teaching the children, the way they looked at her, Brother, the way I looked at her, it was one of pure admiration and earned respect.

You know as the princess of Taghit, all I ever heard was how beautiful and delicate I was, like a flower, people admired my beauty but what was I but a beautiful princess? That is why people stopped admiring me the moment things became hard and beauty was of no value, some hated me even, But Dahlia, she is a disfigured nobody who doesn't even smile at people, but she earned their respect and admiration, This made me think that...I don't want to be a flower anymore".

"What do you want to be, sister?"

" A Dahlia..."

NOTE: DAHLIA IN ARABIC IS NOT A FLOWER BUT A TERM TO DESCRIBE BIG RAISIN OF FIG TREES, THE ONES THAT ARE SO TANGLED? OLD? AND STRONG.

A QUESTION? DO YOU LIKE THESE LONG CHAPTERS OR DO YOU PREFER THAT MAKE THEM SHORTER?

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