Hearing voices, Kenzie walks out of her room "everything ok?" she asks taking in the scene before her.

Hearing voices, Kenzie walks out of her room "everything ok?" she asks taking in the scene before her.

"We are fine...someone is just having an emotional breakdown..."  

"I am not!"

Faith raises an eyebrow at Rommie...who in finally breaks into a smile...

"the dress is beautiful" she says 

"Thank you Kenzi...and I am not having a breakdown..."  

"Then what do you call it?"

"Voicing her opinion?" Kenzie suggests, she goes over to a table that had a few water bottles in an ice bucket and takes one

Rommie smirks at her twin's suggestion...

Rom...its not your call...its your mother's...she knows the risks of working directly with the Queen...

Kenzie watches the two while she takes a drink of water "Is she not allowed to have an opinion on it, even if it is not her call?"

Faith cant help but smirk..."By the gods...its like you are twins or something..."   She says in a playful tone as she stands up...looking at Kenzie..."Are you going to be as difficult as this one here can be too?"  

"Well....we are twins...so...probably..."

Kenzie put on an innocent face and shrugged "I have no idea what your talking about"

Faith smiles at her...shaking her head...as a housemaid comes rushing into the room..."Miss Faith...Miss Faith...you are wanted in the office...immediately..."  The color drains a bit from Faith's face...but she tries to hide it..."Excuse me ladies..."

Rommie steps down from the platform as Faith leaves...looking at her twin...

Kenize raises an eyebrow and looks at her twin "I wonder what that is about?"

"Lets find out...come on..."  She quickly heads toward Kenzi's room...

"Ooo kay" Kenzie follows Rommie into her room. Once they enter, it is still spotless, almost like Kenzie hasn't been in it. The only evidence is the towel Kenzie left on her bed.

Once they are both in the room...Rommie closes the door and sits on Kenzi's bed...holding her hands out to her...

Kenzie sits on the bed next to her and takes her hands.

Rommie closes her eyes and astrals them out of thier physical bodies..."Ok...lets go..."

Kenzie sucks in a breath "whoa. This is...odd feeling"

"Just don't fight it...let me guide you..."  She says...leading her twin through the door...and down the stairs to her father's office...As they enter the office...unseen by those gathered there...A woman they dont recongize is talking...agitated...

"...don't know how she found out...but she opened their grave...she knows the twins arnt in there...She also opened your grave...she knows you are missing too..."

"It was only a matter of time before she went looking.  "

"What do we do?"

"There's more...She went to the Oracle...She asked how many blood heirs were alive...She knows there are four heirs..."

"Then she knows about Callie..."

"Alright...this is what we are going to do...Faith...you are taking the twins and Callie to Canterberry...King Jacob will hide you on one of his private estates...that will keep you and the girls out of range of the Queen...

"And what do you think you are going to do?"

"What I should have done 17 years ago...kill the bitch..."

"Your Majesty...You cant..."

"And why not...She killed me once...killed our twins...Destroyed everything that was good in our lives...Because of her I have had to remain in the shadows...working to protect my people...I couldnt even raise my own daughters because I was afraid that she would find them and finish what she started when she tried to have them killed..."

"She is the Queen...by law..."

"And I am the blood King...the right to rule is mine...not hers...she only sits on the throne as Regent until her son comes of age...because I adopted him...but the right to rule still doesnt belong to him as long as members of the blood line exist..."

Kenzies grip on Rommie tightens. She looks at her twin not wanting to believe what she was hearing

"If you come out of hiding...she will send her assassins after you again..."

"The Rebellion is not strong enough to fight her...not yet..."

Up until now the Duke had been quiet..."The choice is his..."  He says in a calm, cool...voice..."We are both men of action...We held off any fighting until the girls were old enough to protect themselves...The twins are now at that age...Justin and Lily are dead because she found out where they were hiding...The gods were on our side...protecting Kenzi from her...but they are not children anymore...Rommie has been actively trying to get involved in the rebellion...Justin and Lily were already training Kenzi in combat and tactics..."

"The twins may be old enough...but Callie isn't...and we just can't throw the twins into a battle they don't understand...Kenzi has already been traumatized...She needs time and therapy to regain her confidence...Rommie...Rommie is too...aggressive...too quick to give into her anger...One wrong push while they are vulnerable could tip them over the edge toward darkness..."

"Turn them to evil...like the Queen...

"And I don't believe that the girls are prone to the same darkness...They dont have the same hunger for power as Regina did...They have been raised by loving families that gave them stable childhoods..."

Kenzie swallowed hard as she listened on in silence. Still too stunned by what she was hearing not able to take her eyes off of the man who claimed to be her father

The conversation continues...however Kenzi realizes that the conversation is quickly becoming difficult to make out...as Rommie suddenly lets go of her hands...gasping for air...shaking...

Kenzie gasps and turns to Rommie, her face a little paler. "you ok?"

"I...couldn't keep focus..."  She says...slowing her breathing and trying to calm down..."The Queen....our mother..."

Kenzie shook her head not sure what to say or think 

They are going to try to send us away...

"why do they always think that is the answer?" she asks quietly 

I have no idea...but if they do try to move us...we will never be able to find out why she wanted us dead...

Rommie follows after her quickly...the door to the office is closed...as they knew...and to their surprise...another person was apparently listening in...

Kenzie opens the doors to the office and the three girls walk in "If you are going to discuss our fate, don't you think you should include us?"

The Duchess quickly stands...immediately resuming her position as the mother..."Girls...what is this...you know better than to barge into this office when that door is shut...Especially you...Rommie."

"Don't..."  Rommie says in a warning tone....she holds onto Callie's hand...keeping her slightly back and behind the twins...

"Andromeda!"

Rommie looks at her father...and repeats herself..."Don't...lie to us....You should have told us the truth from the start...about everything..."

"Whatever is happening, it is happening to us" Kenzie says calmly as she eyes all of the adults in the room, her eyes stopping on the man they had called their birth father "we should have a say in what happens next"

Hector looks between the three girls...

"No...this is not the time for this conversation...They are still children..."  Artemis stays...standing up...in full mom mode...

Faith looks over at her husband...

"We are not children..."

Kenzi looks at the group, nothing childlike in her gaze "We would be able to protect ourselves better if we knew what we were fighting. I am done running"

"Can the girls and I have a quiet conversation...please...?"  Hector says...motioning for the rest of the room to leave...including his wife and youngest daughter...

Artemis looks like she is about to protest...until her husband gently takes her by the waist...leading her out of the room...

Rommie steps forward...taking Kenzie by the hand...

Kenzie remains quiet, her face neutral and she forces herself to remain calm as Rommie takes her hand as the others leave the office.

Hector stares at the girls for a long moment..."All I ever wanted was for the both of you to be safe...loved...Everything I did was in direction of that..."

"And you succeeded...but we are not helpless infants anymore...You also spent years developing us into the women who stand before you...You could have sent us off to another kingdom when we were infants...instead you put us with your best military and political advisors...who trained us each in their individual strengths..."

Kenzie shakes her head "He may have spent years training and developing you Rom" she looks at her sister then back at Hector "but I don't know you. And that may have been your goal, and yes, you did succeed in some ways. But if you trusted the people you shipped us off to, to raise and train us, then you should trust us to make capable decisions that direct our future"

"Developing both of you...I needed to make sure you wouldn't be corrupted like her..."  He sighs..."I don't even know where to start..."

"You faked our deaths...and your own..."

"the beginning is usually a pretty good place to start" Kenzie says quietly as she goes to the small bar area of the office and pouring herself a glass water, she looks at Rommie, silently asking if she wanted a glass

"You were three months old...sound asleep in your nursery...when the attack started...The Queen had been planning the coup since before she even got pregnant with the two of you...her pregnancy just delayed her a bit.  I had known for months that she wanted the two of you dead...she had even tried to spark a miscarriage...the doctors got to her in time to save you..."

Rommie sits down on one of the chairs...nodding to her twin...staring at Hector...

"I knew we wouldn't have another chance.  I had Justin and Lillian trash your nursery...Then had you both taken out of the castle.  Fortunately...it was one of the few times she didn't win the battle.  She had us under siege for months...by the time she had taken the castle...we had made it look as if you two had died during the initial assault and where in a joint crypt."

"Then you faked your own death..."

Hector nods.  "I gave Justin and Lillian access to my personal funds...untraceable...He bought a farm under a false name and took the two of you there.  When I was captured by the Queen's forces...they had orders to split the two of you up...in case she was looking for a pair of infant girls.  I managed to escape and make it look like I fell over a cliff...she never bothered to look in the coffin.  That is when I became Hector."

Kenzie takes a sip of her water and sets it aside "So what now?" she asks her tone still carefully neutral as she pushes her tumbling thoughts aside, not ready to deal them yet.

I dont know where we go next...my preference would be that you both go with Faith and Callie to Canterberry...But I doubt I am going to get that.  "

"Yeah...that's not going to happen..."

Kenzie went back to the bar and poured another glass of water, she took it over to Hector and handed it to him "No, you are not" she said "whatever happens next we should be part of the discussion."