"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!"

"Ask nicely," Rapunzel replied, her little cheeks flushed from saving her prince from the evil dragon Calumnious.

Kamree couldn't resist rolling her eyes. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, please let down your hair."

"Okay." Little Paisley threw down the extra-long braid section of her blond wig. Kamree mimed using it to climb up over the arm of the couch. Er, palace tower.

Exhausted, Kamree rested her head against the back of the piece of furniture and closed her eyes for a moment. However, her tiny eight-year-old sister didn't want any of that. Paisley scrambled onto Kamree, her knees digging painfully into Kamree's hip. "Sing to me, my prince," she said in that petite voice of hers. That same innocent-sounding voice often got her out of a lot of trouble.

"Sing to you?" Kamree groaned, but a small smile worked its way onto her lips. "How about I..." She grabbed suddenly at Paisley and worked her fingers into her armpits, grinning as the little girl shrieked. "Tickle you!"

"Ah!" Paisley squirmed and tried to get away from Kamree's hands. "No! I give! I give!"

Ah, the magic words. Kamree immediately stopped. Both sisters huffed and sucked in air. "You're a lousy dragon, Ree." Paisley giggled.

"Hey," Kamree joked offense. "I'm the scariest, most dangerous dragon you've ever seen."

They rested on the couch for a while. Kamree settled into the lumpy old couch, content enough to fall asleep. In fact, she had just begun to drift off when Paisley spoke.

"Ree, what's for dinner?"

Kamree smiled at the question. As a baby, Paisley had never been able to correctly pronounce her name and by the time she could, the nickname stuck. She didn't mind. It seemed somewhat cool that her sister, her only family, had a name for her all her own.

"I'm thinking mac n' cheese," Kamree replied. "What do you think?"

Paisley mulled this over. A tiny crease had appeared on her forehead between her eyebrows. "Can we have hot dogs?"

"If we have them, sure." The contents of their fridge usually ended up being a random event. Sometimes the amount of time any food item lasted in their house depended on how many times Paisley snacked and how many late-night food binges Kamree had. "I'll get right on it. You want to watch some TV?" Kamree snagged the remote for their huge blocky thrift store TV off the coffee table.

"Yes, please."

A little ball of warmth oozed into Kamree's chest. "Good manners, baby girl."

She left her sister to it and made the four-step journey from their living room into their miniature kitchen. Their entire apartment was nothing more than a tiny hole-in-the-wall with one bathroom, a kitchen nook, and a single bedroom. It was too simple to get from one side to the other. Yet, watching Paisley had been so much easier ever since Kamree moved them a year ago. Getting her set up at school had been easier as well.

The two girls hadn't so far lived an uncomplicated life, but they had a roof over their heads. To Kamree, that meant more than anything else.

The fridge was mostly empty except for half a gallon of milk, half a loaf of bread, three eggs, some condiments, and some butter. Kamree pushed aside the milk jug to find—Thank Creator—a pack of hot dogs.

Their microwave was under construction, which was Kamree's way of saying it was completely busted. Lucky for her, hot dogs could also be made over the stove. It took a few tries, but once the gas stove clicked and held a flame, she placed the pot of water over it.

"Paisley, dinner's ready," Kamree called out ten minutes later.

Paisley came running into the kitchen, excitement lighting her features as she hoisted herself onto one of the mismatched kitchen chairs. "Do we have ketchup?" her sister asked as her fingers curled around the bread-wrapped hot dog.

"We do, actually." Kamree snatched the condiment from the fridge and set it in front of her on the table.

The two girls settled into the easy and familiar rhythm of dinner. All together there were four hot dogs and each of them ate two before Kamree took their empty plates away.

At eight o'clock, Kamree urged Paisley to get into her pajamas and get ready for bed. Paisley had always been a pretty great listener and already had her teeth brushed when Kamree went into the bedroom to tuck her in.

Kamree always tried her very best to give Paisley the greatest childhood she could. And somehow, Paisley understood that sometimes not everything worked out. Sometimes, dinner was two hotdogs rolled up in a slice of bread. And sometimes saving money meant only getting takeout once a month. That never stopped Kamree, though. She cut costs in other areas and splurged when she could.

It was worth it for Paisley.

"Ree, can you sing to me?" Paisley asked. She'd tucked herself deeply under the covers of her futon bed until only her head poked out. Adorable.

"What would you like me to sing?" Kamree ran her hand softly over Paisley's cheek where her tiny flower Acemark rested.

Brown eyes watched her. "The one about the sea."

Kamree smiled gently down at her sister and softly sang a song about waves reflecting mirrors and princes seeking their true love. It had been Paisley's favorite song for as long as she could remember.

Eventually Paisley's eyes closed, and the peaceful nature of sleep overtook her. Kamree finished the song and let the last few bars drift into the silence before she got up.

The entire apartment stayed quiet, save for the constant hum of the heater. Exhaustion seeped through every line of Kamree's body, but she wouldn't think of sleep until she showered.

Just last week she'd had to have the water heater fixed. For a couple of days they'd only been able to take cold showers and Kamree could barely stand it. Giving up, she'd delve into her miniscule chunk of savings to get it fixed. Now, warm showers felt like a small miracle.

Tonight, she gave into temptation and let herself relax under the warm spray for longer than usual. It felt amazing.

Her mind wandered to the next day. On Wednesdays, she had to get up earlier than usual to get to the office. It was so much harder to get Paisley up and ready for school. It always required patience.

When the water turned more lukewarm than hot, Kamree stepped out and ran a towel over her body. She did a quick brush of her hair before pulling it back into a wet bun.

Her own Acemark was also a flower, hidden behind her ear in a way that somewhat blended into the darkness of her black hair. She hated it. And all it stood for.

In the entire kingdom of Sarias, Kamree had to be the only one who despised the marking of her birth. Not only did it represent half of her parents but also the idea of a mate and true love.

True love. It made people go crazy, made them do stupid things. All for something that did not exist. It was nothing but a misconceived belief and lie told to little Aces to give them hope for a better future.

Paisley believed in true love and Kamree would never try to tell her it didn't exist. If the notion gave Paisley any type of happiness, who was Kamree to stop her?

She just couldn't believe it herself. And she had good reasons.

In Sarias, Acemarks were more than just a birthmark. They were markings that supposedly helped you find your destined love. Kamree once heard them compared to best friend charms. One individual had one half of the puzzle piece, and only another soul, another Ace designed specifically for that individual, had the second half. Except, each person didn't know who had the other half until they were sung to. Supposedly, the mark would glow if two souls were a match. Some Aces even reported feeling some type of bond click in to place.

Sarias revolved solely around music. It was more than just entertainment; it was a way of life. It was love.

Kamree laughed bitterly to herself and grabbed her comforter out of the storage closet. She didn't know how people could spend their whole life searching for this idea of love when there were others out there trying to survive. So many teens and young adults were wasting so much time on the website Musetunes, a site that let anyone post a video or track and then ranked them on skill and popularity. Ridiculous.

Kamree would never be on that site. And not because she didn't own a computer.

She fluffed her pillow and set it so it leaned against the arm of the couch. Then she practically fell onto it and covered herself with the comforter. Her morning alarm was preset and resting on the coffee table next to her.

The yellowing cracks along the painted ceiling seemed to get bigger each day. The brown finish on the doorframes wore out and chipped away. Their old second-hand appliances lost their touch and slowly broke. The wallpaper peeled and curled at the edges.

Kamree let her mind play with the idea of an account on Musetunes. It'd be fun, but something she'd never be able to do. She didn't have any recording equipment. And she had too much on her plate already with Paisley.

If she lived another life, maybe. She'd have time to sing and dance and create more melodies than just the ones she sang at night to her sister. She probably wouldn't enjoy being famous—not that it would happen—but she couldn't see herself having the patience for it anyway. But the money would be nice. And Paisley would be happier than ever. Because Kamree would be able to truly give her everything she'd ever want or need.

With a sigh, Kamree closed her eyes and readied herself for another exhausting next day.