Samara Shaw

It was one of the many crooks of the mansion I'd never seen before.

Even with all the years I spent in it, I had access to few places in my home and those were the ones I was permitted to use. It was either my room, study, dining room or the last floor where we hosted people. It rarely exceeded those four and I didn't realise how huge my home was till then. My parents stayed in separate rooms and even still, both were out of my boundary. There never arose a reason to go anywhere else and with my mother's constant supervision, I could not leave my room without getting questioned. It wasn't a topic I thought of frequently. It may have surfaced to my mind a few times but not once did it become a problem for me. I used to think they belonged to the workers and the ones well looking for my brother and father.

We were somewhere in my house I'd never seen before, one of the many empty rooms at the last floor. It did not look like somewhere anyone paid any attention to. It was abandoned, with tarps covering the furniture and a thick layer of dust over everything. My mother was one that never tolerated the slightest speck of dust, I could not imagine what it would be like if she saw a room so dirty in a house she'd give anything to maintain. This made me realise that even mother herself didn't know places like this existed here.

Why we were back where I came from, I didn't know but Accius thought it right to bring us here. It took a two day journey to get there and at the end of it, I would call it the most foolish idea anyone would ever imagine. I didn't give a remark about it, besides my first frequent comments on how I didn't want to be here and it seems Justin was more troubled by it, seeing the remaining of my thoughts was said by him. I had more to deal with, considering I could accidentally meet mother and we could get caught. It originally started with running away from Vince and finally, we had two people to avoid.

It was only two days but all the running was beginning to wear me out. From a simple conversation with Accius to our quest to find the truth, the whole matter was a lot bigger than I imagined. More than thrice were we almost caught in the forest. The trees could cover but no matter how much we tried, there would always be a reason to get up after thirty minutes of rest. Unlike me, Accius and Justin were unbelievable fast and running wasn't an issue for them. Good for them, speed was the only thing we needed but unfortunately for the latter, he had to carry both the weight of me and himself. I was a burden to them and it was a matter so obvious, it occasionally caused me discomfort. They could go hours without eating and I could too but the difference is,  it took the little energy I had left in me while they remained just as strong as they used to be. I also wasn't immune to mosquitoes and life outdoors wasn't for me. For those reasons, it was difficult to live with them. We finally made it to a place where there were houses to hide in and since then, there was more to do myself. Besides the two of them, no other person could see my face without realizing who I am and so, I walked around in disguise. The fear, however, was something I couldn't control. Every time I felt someone would realize it and although it never happened, I wished there was more I could do besides sunglasses and a scarf.

The mirror at the further end of the room took my attention and there my gaze went as I stared myself. I'd never had to do something so strenuous. Accius made it clear that was the only room in the whole building we could stay as every other one was cleaned every day. It was the worst out of all and with no other choice, we began cleaning the place. It had been an hour or more since we started and at the end, it wasn't the cleanest but that was the most we could do. The sheets needed to be washed and cobwebs hung from the ceiling but without materials to clean them, they were left undone.

"I brought us here because this is the last place he would think of" Accius said after moments of silence. That was the answer to the thousand questions and comments Justin and I made and it was given to us after minutes of his ignoring us.

It was not something anyone would immediately think of and after saying the reason behind it, I realised it was a good idea if Vince was the only one against us. Vince, if he eventually caught me, would take me back to Thorne and so will my parents. I would say we were in more danger than we were back in the forest. We may have been lucky coming in but how long would we go without getting caught?

"My parents would send me back the moment they find out I'm here"

"They would only find out if you want them to. No one comes to this part of the house. If we stay as quiet as we can, we_"

"And that would be for how long?" Justin asked "So let me guess, we're just going to sit here and wait till Astra appears out of no where with no plan at all?"

"What would we have done? Don't you understand he would find us if we stay anywhere else?"

"And it's better if we stayed here with her parents?"

"No one comes down here, we wouldn't get noticed if we stay within our boundaries so till we know the next step to take, we're staying here"

There were no replies to his final decision, only a few grumblings from the other. I, after a few minutes of being there, had gotten used to the reality of this. Whether or not it favoured me, I had to comply with Accius. It was his decision to bring us out here and after successfully leading us through the first step, I could not let my feelings take me back to where I started from. There was only little I could do on my own and a day was the highest I would go before the worst happens so I had to follow one of the two and that one was Accius. We both wanted different things and to get it, we had to find either Astra or her child. I wanted to know the truth, who I was and why I had so much of me related to her while his aim was something I didn't know. It could be that he wanted to be king but it didn't seem like it. That was something Vince would do anything for but he, he didn't mind getting treated like slave while his brother got all the glory so the reason why Accius wanted this was a mystery to me.

"Can we at least get food? I'm starving"

"The food here is not the type you eat" I added, before any further actions were taken. They ate meat, something that was strictly forbidden in the mansion and the vegetables in their meals were usually little or absent while it took about seventy percent of the entire proportion here. There was a big difference between the two and in addition to it, they ate quite a lot compared to the people here.

"We're not stealing food" Accius said coldly and immediately, got up to leave the room. Justin followed and I, after all I'd done the past few hours, couldn't move a muscle from exhaustion. I watched them both leave the room as quietly as they could and sat there on the tiled floor. My knees were drawn up to my arms and my head rested on my palm as I thought of how surprising it was that I was back in my house. It hadn't been up to two weeks since I left but it felt like I'd been absent for years. Although I'd never seen either of my parents or my brother, I could not help but imagine how much emotions would flood into my mind by a simple glimpse. Already, it was the only thing I thought about.

It was only a few minutes since they left that I heard the door open again. With my gaze still on the ground, I assumed it was Justin. It wasn't until I saw the shadow of him on the floor and immediately, I sprung on my feet. That was faster than I thought my tired self could. In a situation like this, it didn't matter how much energy was left in me. He was the least I ever thought would happen. It would've made more sense and I probably would have preferred it if he were Vince that moment.

Within a second, he folded his wings behind him and like a second skin, they attached themselves to his back. His stature prevented him from walking in like a regular person. Slowly, he made his way in and there he stood before me with a look on his face I couldn't trust. Unfortunately for my vulnerable self, he was by the door so there was no way I could go through him and run outside. The only thing I could do was run to the corner of the room and hope for the best.

"In case you're wondering who I am, I'm Amadeus, the statue you freed two days ago"

"What are you doing here?"

"I must say, Accius was very wise to have thought it would be a good idea to bring you here and for a while, I found it a bit difficult to connect the dots but finally, here I am" He paused and stared at me for a minute or two then proceeded to say "Samara"

"You know who I am" I didn't know if it was supposed to make me feel relieved but it didn't. If he knew I wasn't Astra, then he would've realised I wasn't half as strong as she was and that could mean anything. It was either he let me go, knowing I wasn't the woman he had something against or hurt me because of my vulnerability. It had to be one of the two and everything in me was wishing for the former.

"How is it possible you look so much like Astra? You know, I was really hoping it would eventually be a misunderstanding."

"I don't know why and I promise you, whatsoever you had with her, I have no idea about it"

"I'm not going to hurt you, I can assure you I'm not a monster. In fact, I brought you a present, a little something to spark up our friendship"

The smile on his face almost made me think he was joking. It wasn't until he proceeded to present it that I saw he was serious. From his side, he pulled out an object wrapped in thick black leather. It was at least two feet long and it's width wouldn't exceed ten centimeters. The handle was made of shiny silvery metal, most of which were either green or gold. It had a rough surface and green jewels as ornaments around it. Shaped like squares, the were arranged to perfection and glistened with the sunlight reflecting on it. I did not see all of it due to the covering but just like the handle, it was made of pure metal with engravings made on it. He held the sword by the handle and brought it closer to me.

"I don't want it"

"Of course you do. It's a gift, isn't it? Didn't you mother ever warn you not to reject a gift? Take it"

"Leave me alone"

"I'm very sure my brother would approve of it, you'd be doing him a big favour by taking it"

Noise came from the door again with the familiar voice of Justin behind it. His head snapped towards the side of the room and looked back at me with anger stricken on his face. His eyes got darker and the frown on his face deepened. He was upset with the interruption and it was obvious in the way he looked. I was beginning to rethink what he said when he told me he wouldn't hurt me because it looked like he would. It would only take a second or less before Justin would push the door open and there wasn't much he could do to me.

When the door finally opened, Amadeus vanished.