“Adam. Adam wake up,” Suri's soft voice penetrated my deep sleep. I opened my eyes to the suffocating darkness of our small cell. I could hardly hear the steady thrum of steps outside and it didn’t feel as if we were moving.

“Suri, what’s wrong?” I sat up, staring blindly into the space. Though I couldn’t see her I knew she was there. Frustrated, she shuffled around the spaced and sighed when she came across what she was looking for. In an instant, a tiny flame illuminated her face. Tears streaked her dusty cheeks, but I saw hope in her dark eyes.

“We’ve stopped. I’m not sure why but I heard them mention something as if we were being followed,” her light voice was rushed as she shared the news excitedly. My heart jumped; maybe freedom was an option.

“Shh, put out the flame, I will look through the crack,” I whispered softly. She nodded vigorously and the flame flickered out.

As silently as I could manage, I rolled onto my knees. The boards creaked beneath me as I tried to crawl towards the door of our personal prison. A small amount of moonlight shined through the sliver of a crack next to the lock. I didn’t dare breath as I pressed my face up against it to look out. The wood was warm against my face, there was fire on the other side. My vision focused and my breath hitched. A royal guard sat by the fire alone, his buddies sleeping around him. I sighed. There was no escape.

Just as I was about to draw away, a silver glint caught my eye in the trees behind the man. Hope blossomed in my chest as I heard the telltale whistle of an arrow as it soared through the air and made its home in the guard's back. He fell forward into the flames, his spine severed. Without a sound, the culprit moved forward into the light of the flame. He looked strange like he was wild almost. He bore fantastic, sporadic colors on his slacks; he didn’t have a shirt, but there were elaborate markings tracing up and down his arms, along with silver and gold rings. His hair was long and unruly, bringing out his warrior like appearance. Beads and rings hung from a bandana that held back dark curls. He wasn’t like anything I had ever seen. No warrior of Gelock could move so silently and with ease.

I had been so focused on him I hadn’t seen the others move like shadows into the camp. They were all similar but extremely different from the first man. It reminded me of the patch quilt our adoptive mother wrapped us in. One by one, they killed each guard. No one woke. Reluctantly I pulled back and peered at Suri. She had been right.

“They didn’t say anything about being followed, did they? You saw the people coming didn’t you?” I accused softly. She didn’t say anything but I heard a slight hitch in her breath. “Suri, it’s dangerous, please stop.” That was the whole reason we were given to the king as slaves. They accused us of being gypsies for our abilities, or rather her's.

“They’re here to help,” she pleaded.

I shook my head and went back to look through the hole. They had begun looting the tents and releasing chained prisoners. I had a sliver of hope we’d be released too. But they didn’t see us. It was as if our box didn’t exist or matter to them. They went along with their business without thinking to look what was inside. My hope dwindled down to the familiar sting of resentment. I couldn’t help the anger I felt building inside me. It wasn’t fair. Life wasn’t fair. No one wanted us. We were freaks. I turned around and crossed my arms. We would be stuck in this box until the guards came looking.

“Brother, please, do not lose hope. There is still a chance,” Suri begged. Carefully she crawled over to me and leaned on my shoulder. I wrapped my hand in hers and tried to get my frustration under control.

“Sirisha, please, stop seeing. Just cause you see it doesn’t mean it is right,” I groaned. I knew she couldn’t stop it but she had blind faith that they were always right. I knew they were most of the time but when she brought it up it reminded me of why we're here.

“Please, Adam, have fa-,” Suri’s plea quickly turned to a squeal as the door flung open from behind us. My heart escaped my chest as I began to fall backward, I let go of Suri’s hand and waved my arms wildly, attempting to grab something. My attempts were futile as I hit the ground before I could blink. All the air blasted from my lungs as I connected with the ground with raw force.

After a moment, I opened my eyes to a clear night sky. The first time I had seen the night sky since we had been imprisoned. My view didn’t last long, however; in a second a face was staring down at me. They almost reminded me of Suri but instead they had a thinner face and lighter hair. The girl's eyes sparkled with amusement and curiosity. She turned her head to the side and feathers fell from behind her ear.

“You okay down there? You look as if you’ve went and seen a dragon!” she chirped. I couldn’t muster any words, I just stared up at her blankly. She looked back up and winked. In the next moment, I felt a strong pair of hands grip around my arms and pull me from the ground. I gasped, finally trying to replenish my suffocating lungs. The girl stared at me with blatant amusement in her black eyes. I looked over at Suri next to me who wore an identical expression to mine.

“Oh goodness, I have so many questions!” The girl cheered in excitement as she skipped around us. “How old are you guys, where are you from, are you gypsies too, what’s happened to you?” She continued to spout off all these questions until a mountain of a man walked over. He placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder and chuckled.

“Thalia, dear, you are overwhelming the poor welps. Come on honey, remember, one question at a time,” he shook his head then turned his attention to us. He bore a nasty scar across one of his eyes blinding it. “Now, what’re your names?”

“Uh-,” I stuttered. Suri elbowed me and sighed.

“My name is Sirisha, and this is Adam my twin,” she spoke softly. The man peered down at us thoughtfully.