Two weeks later
It was early Saturday morning when we heard a commotion in the backyard.
I glanced out my window to see Mom and Dad looking at my window or at least in that direction before they hugged each other.
"Mhmm." The rich scent of fried breadfruit filtered into my room with scrambled eggs. It seemed Khalisa had already woken up and started breakfast.
I was happy they were back, but couldn't help but wonder where they went and what were they doing for so long. They normally checked in on us the first few days they were gone. But after six days, no calls. We know sometimes the mission requires radio silence, as you never know when the enemy might be listening in. But this kept us in anguish.
I grabbed my Bible off the nightstand and flipped to my book marker. I have completed reading the entire Bible. However, I decided to go over the Bible. I now reached the book of Psalms. Today's chapter for the morning was Psalms 91. Once I finished, I meditated on God's word for a few minutes, then prayed and combed my hair. I headed to my ensuite to freshen up. I took a warm shower after washing my face, then brushed my teeth.
I skipped along and smiled as I made my way down the passage leading to the stairs. I was wearing my favourite pink pajamas. Comfy and roomy with pockets. It was silky and very cool to sleep in. Along with my soft pink bunny ears-slippers.
It was nice to have Mom and Dad home again. They looked like they hadn't eaten for a few days though. Mom seemed to have lost a few pounds here and there. Their faces looked drawn and their eyes tired.
It seemed the twins had already woken up. I could hear their voices as I passed their room doors.
Once downstairs, I went to the fridge and got some apple juice. Then took a glass from the counter and poured out the juice. I sipped it just to wet my tongue before heading towards the kitchen backdoor.
"Good morning, sis," I said as I walked with my juice towards the door.
"Don't go out there, Keli. Give them some time," she said.
"I think they had two weeks without us. It's time to see the children. It's time to start preparing for the pending war and save Benara. The longer we wait, I fear it might be too late even to save Drako," I complained.
"I know. I woke up the twins and was about to get you when I heard you in the bathroom."
"Oh... what did you want?"
"I wanted to go over our planned strategies in case we had to go on our own."
"Good morning!" The twins said brightly on entering the kitchen.
"Good morning!" we replied.
"We see the parental units are back,"
Cayden said as he opened the fridge rummaging for something. He then closed the fridge door, and walked over to the kitchen island, where the various plates of delicious dishes lay, that Khalisa was preparing. Cayden timidly stole a fried breadfruit from one of the plates, which not by surprise, was immediately followed up with a slap to the back of his head by my sister's hand.
"Ouch!" he exclaimed while rubbing his head back.
Jayden approached to do the same and she pointed the long frying fork at him. Holding up his hands, he backed away. He grabbed a ripe banana instead.
"Guys, please wait until everything is finished. Keli set the mats for breakfast in the meantime. Cayden, please wash the forks, plates and cups. Jayden, dry them and hand them to Keli. I also made some hot chocolate tea with milo."
"Okay. I am just going to get Mom and Dad. Won't their tea get cold," I said.
"Yes, so don't share theirs out... let's wait till they come inside. There must be a reason why they haven't come in yet," Khalisa advised.
We did as our older sister told us and waited for our parents to come inside. Drank our tea then waited for ten minutes to see if they would come so we could begin eating. Once ten minutes passed we went over the plans. I could hear my stomach crying, but we wanted Mom and Dad to eat with us, like a normal day, before they left for God knows where.
The element of surprise was on our side. Drako and our enemies didn't know we knew their plans or rather their end game and didn't know we knew their hideout...well not really hideout. I mean the grand castle does scream 'See me here, come touch me if you're bad.'
Half an hour later, Mom and Dad eventually came inside holding hands. I quickly got up and shared their cup of tea. They smiled and said. " Thank you, honey. Father ruffled my hair a bit before walking to the big spread.
"Morning sweethearts," she said first placing her tea cup on the table. She then kissed me on my forehead and hugged my siblings before sitting around the breakfast nook with Dad sitting beside her.
"What a lovely spread we have, Khalisa. Thank you for making breakfast, honey. It smells delicious." Mom said as Dad nodded in agreement.
We had a lovely view of the back deck which had yard chairs and a table with cushions, and a fire pit in the middle of the yard. A beautiful layered assortment of flowers in the garden on the left with the big pool on the right which was now covered. There were several trees on our half-acre of land to the back of the property. Big Pear trees, breadfruit, orange, apple, oak, mango, tamarind and guinep trees, far from the house. Mom didn't fancy lizards and thought having trees close to the house was giving them an open invitation.
We all quietly sat eating the breakfast Khalisa served on each plate. Sweet fried breadfruit, Scrambled eggs with frankfurter sausage, buttered toast bread with fruit cocktail and a glass of orange juice.
My siblings and I stole silent looks at each other trying to push the other to talk. Mom and Dad were not talking so someone had to.
"So Mom, how was the trip? Did you find what you were looking for?" I asked.
"All we found were more questions than answers. It's like something or someone is deliberately trying to sabotage us." My father replied.
"What were you looking for?" I asked as I finished my breakfast. Then drank some of my juice to wash it down.
Sighing heavily my mother responded with sadness in her voice.
"It's not a what...but a who."
"Who were you looking for?" Khalisa asked.
"We didn't want to say anything until we found proof but maybe after all these years, there isn't anything to find. However after many months of searching and garnering new leads. We made a breakthrough a few weeks ago." Mother replied on the brink of tears.
She placed her head in her hands and shook her head. My father pushed back his chair and got up to comfort my mother. A single tear escaped my father's right eye. He bent down his head and gently kissed the top of Mom's head.
"Please tell us who you were looking for?" the twins asked in unison.
My mother only shook her head while my father dragged his hand down his face as if he were wiping a memory away.
"We found a demon layer. We had confirmation that a high-order meeting was being held at the 21st District of Stantan Placos. We travelled through many dimensions just to make it in time to the secret meeting. After concealing our aura and powers, we watched as great demons from every quadrant and hemisphere stood waiting for the meeting to begin. We hoped that the head of this demon's gathering would be the big bosses."
Dad paused and stared at us with tears streaming down his cheeks. My mom looked up at him and gently patted his hand that rested on her shoulders.
My mother then looked at all our faces before she continued where Father left off.
"As we stood waiting, we saw three hooded individuals making their way to a high platform that overlooked the crowd. We were getting ready to make our way closer so we could take them out. There were even demons from your school Iris that eluded us. Once we made our way to the middle of the gathering, they now started to chant in Latin.
One of the hooded persons came forward and revealed her face. She lifted her hands signaling for the multitude to be quiet.
Loud shoots turned to hush tones then everything went quiet. It was none other than the elusive Queen of darkness herself Zamora standing in what looked like a red army suit. Two men with weapons stood beside her. They seemed a bit out of place, but maybe they were gifted and had special weapons. We were not sure of her involvement until now."
Mom paused to drink her juice before continuing.
"We then heard her say, 'Legion of darkness, followers of our dark lord Lucifer, hail your new princes and future Kings. Prince Dante Vilpern and Prince Drako Aurum. Serve and obey them well. If you get on their bad side... let's just consider yourselves warned.'
Mom stopped and held her chest briefly before continuing.
"When we heard the first name called, we moved slowly through the crowd. But when we heard our son's name we froze. We watched in horror as both boys revealed their identities. Our first thought was, are they twins? Upon closer inspection, we noticed a few differences here and there. After the initial shock, we took a closer look at Drako. He was very tall and handsome. Perhaps over seven feet. His eyes were blood red and he embodied evil. His very aura seems to exude darkness expanding around him. He then opened his mouth and began speaking to ignite the already excited crowd. Try as I might to move. I couldn't...she looked up at Father then corrected to... we couldn't move. Our son we thought dead, was alive... and he was evil," she lamented.
We were all stunned. I watched as all our faces were changing from shock to anger to blank stares.
"Should I tell them what happened to me?" I whispered to my sister. She rubbed my back and said "Tell them. It may help them choose their next step.
I stood up from around the table and went to my parents. I took both of their hands and led them to the living room. My siblings followed behind and sat on either side of my parents in the big plushy lime green sofa. I inhaled deeply and exhaled trying to calm my nerves.
"Mom...Dad, I have some information that may help you decide what to do next." I began.
Both mother and father looked at me with interest in their eyes, "Go on," my father prompted.
"Okay, here goes. I opened Uncle Lino's gift and fell asleep with the pink crystal in my hand. The next day Khalisa, Jayden and Cayden were attacking me with knives and swords as they thought I was a demon. I didn't know. I felt like my normal self and was shocked at the sudden change in their behaviour. It seemed I turned into a giant pink crystal. "
"What... were you hurt?" my mother burst out as she looked at the others.
My siblings quickly raised their hands and said, "We didn't hurt her mom. She flung me into the wall," Cayden said.
"Go on Iris. It seems I am going to have a long talk with Linos when I see him tomorrow. What else happened, dear?" Mom asked.
"I blanked out I guess and was in a dream state or another world. I saw my great ancestor Nanca Aurum...."
"I am sorry sweetheart but we are not related to the Aurum Bloodline. Your grandfather was an important friend to the royal family that's all. You may have been dreaming or remembering one of the stories you heard Uncle Linos talking about," my mother interjected.
"No mother. I am not wrong. I will soon explain everything."
Both Mom and Dad held each other hands looking at me quizzically. I knew what I was about to reveal to them would shatter and change everything about their lives. Including ours.
I began my story again. I told them everything about Nanca, Dad's real mom who was Queen Lahti and his father, King Jinhi, his siblings and his uncle Mondola. He shook his head at that one and got up to pace in front of us. "Impossible!" he declared shaking his head and rubbing his ears.
"Are you sure about this Keliana? " He stopped to ask me.
"Yes, Father it is all true. You can ask the man who acted as your father all these years. Peter Larkin, the queen's most trusted imperial guard.
"He is your grandfather Keliana and that will not change. Even if what you say is true and we are royals and not soldiers, we owe our very existence to him. If he didn't save me, then none of us would be here."
He looked at my mother and gently brushed the back of his hand across her cheek.
"Mitchell, you probably would have been Linos' wife after all."
My mother gasped on that one as she stared at her husband whose world and everything that he believed turned upside down.
He sat down on the loveseat across from my mother and siblings. Father took out his cell phone from his left pants pocket and search for the number he wanted. The only person that he knew could confirm or deny my claim.
He shook his head and placed the phone on the coffee table between the chairs.
"What happened, Erinic? " Mom asked.
"Voice mail," he replied.
"Try again my love and put it on speaker," she smiled.
My father picked up the phone once again and redial the number placing it on speaker.
"Hello Erinic, how are you? It's been a long time. Eleven years to be exact... I believe the last time I saw you and your little family was when Keliana was three. How is my little princess doing these days? He asked.
"My father jumped when he heard the word princess.
"I am not little anymore Grandpa," I shouted and immediately covered my mouth.
"Wait what's going on?" Grandfather asked.
Dad eyeballed me and said, "Sorry Dad forgot to mention you're on speaker with the family. "
"Oh... this is a family call. What's the occasion? Wait.. don't tell me. Is Khalisa finally getting married to the Westniel boy? His family is probably wondering the same thing."
"No father she is not getting married. At least not that I am aware of," Dad replied.
"No! It's not about me. I would have called you myself, grandfather." Khalisa answered folding her arms.
"Okay... what's going on my boy? Are you okay?" Grandfather queried.
"Father...yes I am fine. I know it has been years since we talked but I am going to ask you a few questions and I need you to tell me the truth."
"Okay. Go ahead, even though I think I already know what you will ask." Grandfather said clearing his throat.
"Are you my real father?" Dad asked.
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. It was so quiet on either side that if you dropped a pin on the floor it would sound like a gong.
The phone started to make a noise as if being covered.
"Hello Erinic my son. Michelle and my handsome and beautiful grandchildren," grandmother greeted.
"Hello, Mother! I didn't know you were back." My father said as we said hello to Grandma in the background.
"I think this should be discussed in person. We will be there in a few hours. I expect a scrumptious lunch and dinner. I will bring dessert," she said and seem to hand the phone back to Grandfather.
"Erinic, you're my son, whether or not my blood runs in your veins. You will forever be mine..." Grandfather said.
"And mine," Grandma shouted sounding further away from the phone.
"I understand, but just answer me this. Was queen Lahti and King Jinh my parents?"
We sat waiting for a few minutes in silence as we listened intently for his response.
"Yes! But I was only to keep it a secret until you were ready to make claim on your kingdom." Grandfather explained.
Father nodded verbally to his father. "Hmm...Unhuu...so Queen Lahti and King Jinh are my real parents." He asked and waited for another confirmation.
Dad then took the phone off speaker and left to go into his office.
I can only imagine Grandfather standing straight, looking pained as he delivered all that he knew about the family.
With grandfather and grandmother on the way. We should be capable of catching them off guard. I still hadn't told them about Dante and Drako who wanted to kill us and that Benara was a prisoner in their dungeon. Maybe this might send them over the edge.
I knew if we took too long to move then Benara would be dead and my brother might be more lost and we might have to kill him to save ourselves and the people we swore to protect.
Father then came out of the office and had the phone back on the speaker.
"Kids say goodbye to your grandfather and get ready for their visit."
"See you soon grandfather and grandma. We love you both we said."
As we turned to go, Dad said. "I forgot to ask. How did they die... my family?"
"They died in their sleep, burning in flames."
My father looked like he was having a panic attack when he asked about his real family and heard the response. He repeated, "Burned...killed in their sleep."
My mother moved to console her husband. My father soon ended the phone call and said, "See you soon."
"I am so sorry this is happening honey I wish there was something I could do or say to ease your pain." Mom said.
Dad nodded his head as he hugged my mother's waist while his head rested against her.
" I guess the cat is out of the bag," I whispered to Khalisa.
"Children. I need you to help tidy the place. Ensure your weapons are polished. Go now... we don't know how soon they will arrive. I will make one of their favourite dishes. Pot roast Pork, jerk chicken with raw vegetables, mashed potato salad mixed with mayonnaise and boil eggs, macaroni and cheese."
Looking down at my father, she gently tilted his chin to look up to her.
"Dear are you well enough to get vintage wine?" she asked Dad.
He nodded mechanically and went to the cellar to get two vintage red wines. I knew I wasn't going to get to taste any and asked Mom, "Will I be able to taste my first wine."
"No Iris, you are too young. You can taste it on your 21st birthday," she replied.
"Why taste and not drink?" I asked.
"Because, you love sweet things and once you taste it, I am sure you won't want a glass. But what we can do is, for now, we can have non-alcoholic champagne. You can put the blue and green ones to chill. I know the pink is your favourite but they were out of it at the nearby supermarket. I hadn't gotten a chance to check MegaMart yet."
I sighed heavily before responding,
"Okay Mom, will do."
A few hours later as my siblings and I completed our task, bathed and put on our best clothes. A sturdy double knock came from the door. Everyone stood at attention including my mom and watched as father gradually walked to open the door.