"Bad news? That is no way to refer to an old friend Mara, don't you think?." Dolores said as she made her way into the stables.
"What do you want Dolores?" Mara quickly asked.
"The truth Mara. Tell her who she is and let her make her choice, to go with me? Or to remain here in the dark with you. What are you doing scared of?" Dolores said.
"Tell me what?" I asked.
"Mara has been keeping a secret from you, for seventeen years of your life. Your true..." Dolores started but I heard enough and cut her short.
"I wasn't asking you, miss. Mother, what is she saying?" I turned to grab Mara's arm.
"It's nothing, Karen. Stay here." Mara said and quickly dragged Dolores out of the stables.
"What in the lights name do you want from us?" Mara asked Dolores as they went outside, to the back of the stable.
"A twenty-three years old girl who happens to be my sister's daughter and the runaway heir to the throne of Devon." Dolores stated.
"Look for that girl somewhere else. Karen is not twenty-three." Mara said.
"Oh, I see. I may not be exactly accurate with her age but I'm close. Listen, Mara..."
"She's not Naya. Stay away from my daughter." Mara yelled at Dolores.
"Listen, your child is the only one that age around here Mara. My instincts led me here and my instincts have never led me to the wrong place. And then an evidence is her beautiful blues eyes just like mine and the rest of our family and her beige hair like her mother's." Dolores said.
"Well, many many have thesame eye and hair color. Dolores maybe the lady you seek is somewhere around here but that lady is not my Karen."
Dolores scoffed "then where is Naya? On the day my sister was killed, you escaped with her daughter, you can't tell me you lost her now."
"What are you saying then?"
"What I am saying is that I understand how close you two were, and she trusted you even more than she trusted me. I also know how much you loved her and that you would protect her own. So answer me, Mara, if that girl is not Naya, who then is she?" Dolores asked peering desperately into Mara's eyes but before Mara could answer, I interrupted.
"Mother? The supplies are here." I said looking with my eyes darting between Mara and Dolores suspiciously.
"Right. You go and help him get them down. I'll be with you in a jiffy." Mara responded and I nodded and left.
Mara turned to Dolores. "Stay away from my daughter, Karen has lived a life free of drama since we found peace here. Don't destroy that life for her." She said and left, leaving Dolores alone.
After much work that day, my mother avoided having a conversation that I desperately wanted to have. A conversation about who Dolores as she called her was and what secret she had to tell me. She pretended to have been weary and so slept off but I couldn't sleep, so I got up, took the lantern, and left the house that night.
"Hello...!" I said on getting to a dark room in an inn.
"I knew you'd come to find me." Dolores said as she came into visibility. "You got that quality from me." She added.
"What else do you know?" I asked her.
"Why you've come. You're an inquisitive one Naya... Sorry, Karen." She said.
"Why do you think I'm Naya? And who is Naya? Why is she so important to you?" I asked.
"Naya is my sister's daughter." She said.
"And who is your sister?"
"Come in and sit. I have wine, this is going to take long." Dolores said.
I made my way in and sat down but as she wanted to pour me some wine I declined.
"What, you think I'd poison you?" Dolores asked.
"Why would you do that? If I'm Naya then I'm super important to you." I said.
"Of course." She said. "So why are you rejecting my wine?"
"I don't drink in the middle of the night." I said.
"Oh." Dolores said and downed her drink.
"Now, will you tell me why you think I'm Naya and who Naya truly is?"
"How old are you?" Dolores asked.
"Twenty-two." I replied.
"Oh. I may have miscalculated but I'm sure you're Naya. You look so much like Cleo."
"Go straight to the point."
"Seventeen years ago, your mother was murdered by king Stefan and he took over your mother's throne. Your throne, Naya. I don't know how Mara managed to escape with you but she was your mother's handmaid at that time."
"And where were you?" I asked.
"I... I was... That doesn't matter."
"It does. Who are you?"
"I'm Dolores, Queen Cleopatra's younger sister. Queen Cleopatra is your mother." She said. "I'm sorry Naya but the woman you know as your mother is not your biological mother."
"Mara is my mother." I said not wanting to believe that she wasn't my mother. Mara is a woman I grew up with and nothing would ever make me believe she wasn't my biological mother.
"I know this is hard for you Naya but you have to believe me."
"Don't call me Naya." I said.
I've always had this nightmare about a lady being murdered but I didn't know who she was so maybe Dolores is right. I may be Naya.
"I'll leave you to rest dear. You can go home or spend the night here. My little niece is welcome to stay." She said but without responding, I left.
"There you are, Karen. I've been looking all over for you. It's the middle of the night." Mara said when I got home.
"Dolores told me already mother. But you have to tell me she lied. Tell me you're my biological mother. Tell me Dolores is only here to cause trouble and that she's not related to us. I need to hear you say that mother." I said to Mara hoping to get an affirmative response.
"She's telling the truth, Karen." Mara said to my disappointment. "I mean I'm not sure of what she said to you but, I'm not your mother. Queen Cleopatra is your mother and Dolores? She's her younger sister." Mara admitted.
I couldn't even say a word. I never thought a day like this would ever come.
"So the nightmare I had were all real?" I asked.
"Yes. After you witnessed your mother's death, you lost cautiousness and by the time you woke up, you somehow lost your memories. I thought it was the perfect opportunity to give you a new life so I brought you here, to live with me." She said.
"Tell me how it happened." I said.
"It all started with what was supposed to be a peace meeting...." Mara started and with time, she told me the whole story.
"If Stefan may be searching for me then, it'll only take a while till he finds me." I said.
"He won't. This place is safe for you Karen."
"But Dolores found me. We're lucky she did before King Stefan did." I said.
"I'm sorry Karen."
"You don't have to apologize. You were only trying to protect me... But I'm of age now and I think it's time I become the one searching for Stefan." I said to my mother who was already hurting. I didn't want to stay hidden like a loser, if Stefan really killed my mother then he must burn for it.