Dawna: 24
Pixie: 21

Sometimes, the person you'd take a bullet for end up being the one behind the gun - unknown

Furious was a big deficiency for what the pale Queen was currently feeling. Her blood was boiling, the vein in her neck was popping up dangerously and she had lit half the garden in fire within five minutes. Dawna had never been one to deal with emotions rightly, especially not after the first magical outbreak she had had all those years ago.

A loud scream left her lips while she broke a few vases that were very expensive. The upset woman could not care less at that point, however. All she felt was the awful feeling of betrayal and hurt. How could she have been so damn blind? How was it possible that she had not seen the similarities in Semuals and Pixies faces?

The pale woman destroyed a few statues and blew the entire shed away before she was allowed to breath for a second. Looky had been watching her from afar with judgement in his greenish eyes, yet the young Queen could not bring herself to care about this. All she wanted to do was hurt someone as bad as she was aching, but that would not help this time. Nothing would help.

'Your majesty?' a soft and scared voice asked, causing the angry woman to turn around only to find a young man looking at her. 'The baby won't stop crying and they told me to get you. They have tried everything they could be he just won't stop.'

'Fine,' the pale woman hissed, deciding in the moment not to hurt the boy. 'Come on Looky'

It turned out that the little boy indeed could not stop weeping. His loud screams could be heard from the beginning of the long hallway, which made the pale woman feel slightly worried. His mother may have been a treasonous monster, but that did not necessarily mean that her son was as well.

'Hush there, little bean,' the pale woman spoke as she carefully grabbed the child from his crib. 'Now you have to stop crying, alright. Be a good boy and stop those fake tears, you have been fed, you have not pooped nor peed, and you really should be sleeping. That is right, you heard me young man.'

Her voice always went a tone higher and became even more childish when she spoke to the baby boy, she so adored. His cries slowly died as the Queen sung him a lullaby and rocked him back and forward.

'You see?' her childish voice asked. 'This is much better.'

The Queen had dismissed the nannies and took Loöys over to her room where she sat on the couch with him in her arms. He looked so much like his mother with his light brown skin colour, his very short, yet dark hair and the look in his eyes was the same too. They both looked like fighters who saw the world in the best light at all time. Loöys would probably turn out to be just as sarcastic and optimistic as his mother.

'Your mama did a very bad thing, you know,' the pale woman whispered while rocking him. 'Very bad indeed.'

The little boy looked at her with his big orange eyes and smiled, not knowing where she was talking about since he could not understand anything at that point yet. An unfamiliar feeling crept in her bloodstream and spread itself through her entire body within seconds. It was guilt; guilt for making the lovely boy in her arms an orphan like herself. Dawna had never really had anyone besides her auntie and growing up that was tough for her. Now, she could not picture herself growing up any other way, but that was all afterwards. During her childhood she had been lonely many nights and it was hard to watch others who did have a mother and a father who took time for them and were alive.

Dawna had never cared before about making a child an orphan, but this time it was different. This time she knew the boy and she knew the parents. Had it not been her sworn duty to protect Pixie from the maniac that wanted to kill her? Now, that maniac would be her aunt who was so determined to make her pay for what she had done to Dawna. However, for once in her life the pale woman did not feel that way. She loved the feeling of a good kill and she enjoyed watching the life leave someones eyes. Yet, she could not even bring herself to the shooting of someone who used to be her best friend.

Betrayal is hard, but it is even harder when someone you truly cared about and trusted is the one who turned out to be the traitor.

'And she must pay for that, you do understand that, right? She asked me to look over you, so that means that we will spend some more time together until the bad person is found.'

Suddenly, the pale womans mind relived the conversation she had had with Pixie. The young mother had known about Neveah and she had known details about her brother that not many people knew. How could she have possibly known all of this? Her explanation about ghosts made absolutely no sense since there was no such thing as that. However, that did leave the white-haired woman with a lot of unanswered questions.

'Do you believe in ghosts?' her voice asked the little boy; whose response was a blink of his orange eyes. 'No of course you do not.'

Even though the pale woman was a big sceptic she could not help but longing for a sign that her brother was still watching over her. Everything Pixie had said was too good to be true; she had made her believe that her daughter was with Damien and that they were playing together. Dawna had always wondered if her beloved brother would have loved her and if she would have loved him.

'Damien?' her weak voice called out. 'Damien, if you are truly here could you please give me a sign? Throw this pillow here on the ground of make the chandelier move but please I am begging you, if you are here could you please give me a sign?'

Nothing happened, as predicted. The pale woman felt stupid for even trying and shook her head in disappointment.

'You have never heard that, alright?' she whispered to the baby. 'You have never heard that.'

All of a sudden, a knock filled the air causing the young woman to look up again. Slowly, the Queen made her way to the door only to find no one standing at the other side.

'Do you see anyone?' Dawna asked the baby in her arms did not responded once again. 'No, no I thought so.'

As soon as her hands had closed the door again, yet another knock filled the air. Her blood started to boil, and irritation bubbled up inside of her like boiling water.

'If you seriously think that this is funny-,' Dawna hissed before opening the door again. Once again, there was no one on the other side of it, something that confused her even more. If she had heard the knock not even two seconds ago then how was it possible that the hallway was empty?

An irritated and deep sign left her lips before closing the door again and turning back to the couch where she noticed that one of the pillows that had previously laid on the couch was now on the ground. A shock pulled through her body as she realised what this must have meant. There was no open window and therefore no way this pillow could have been blown of the couch.

Suddenly a wave of adrenaline pulled through her bloodstream ones her eyes noticed what time it was. Dawna quickly put the little boy back in his bed before her feet carried her downstairs rather quickly.

Her bright blue eyes noticed the group of people in the garden, but the one that stood out the most to her was the dotted woman whose eyes were filled with sadness.

'Alright then,' she heard her aunts voice spoke faintly. 'Farewell traitor.'

It all happened within seconds; the arrow was released and threatened to the kill Pixie within seconds. However, the Queen could not let that happen; she just could not. Her fingers snapped, causing the arrow to go up in flames right before the other womans dark eyes. Confused mumbling filled up the empty space in the air almost immediately, no one understood what had just happened. No one expect the two women.

'That is quite enough!' her harsh voice spoke as the Queen pushed over the people in the crowd to walk towards the stage. 'Play time is over, auntie.'

However, no one moved, and it made her even more annoyed. Could no one just listen for once in their miserable lives?

'Like I said, play time is over so let her go. Now,' the pale woman spoke with poison in her voice. It was clear that she was still everything but pleased with Pixie's behaviour and that there was still some anger left in her, yet, Dawna could not bring herself to murdering the girl. Not after looking her son in the eye and seeing the sign her brother had possibly given her.There were too many unanswered questions and the only one who could provide an answer to them was the dotted woman.

'Dawna, dear, what are you doing here? This woman right here is found guilty of treason, so she deserves to die.'

The pale woman shook her head as her feet carried her closer until she had reached the stage. The fact that her aunt was speaking up against her woke the anger inside of her up again.

'No, no, no, auntie mine, because I am not the one that has found her guilty that was you and I am not the one who sentenced her to death that was you as well. The last time I checked I was still the Queen and therefore the most powerful person in this realm and not you. So, pray tell me, auntie dear, is there anything else you want to say?'

The colour in Delphiniums face disappeared when she heard her nieces words, knowing that there was nothing she could say or do to convince the stubborn woman. 'Fine,' she hissed eventually.

'Very well then,' the pale woman spoke before turning to the dotted woman who shivered visibly underneath the look of her eyes. 'Come with me.'

There was a crazy tone in her voice as she forced the other woman to stand up and walk with her. 'Today is either going to be the luckiest or the absolute worst day you have ever had, Pixie dearest. So, be prepared.'

'Where are you taking me?' the dotted woman asked with a weak tone in her voice.

'To my room, dummy, because the two of us are going to have a little chit-chat.'

The two women sat across from each other at the desk in the Queens bedroom, they were both silent. Dawna was still angry, but she knew that she had to give the other woman a chance to explain herself.

'I suppose that I'll start, then?' the dotted woman asked, causing her to raise her light eyebrows at her. 'Thank you for saving me.'

'I was not saving you, I merely extended the time on your trial,' the Queen spoke. 'You are here to answer my questions and if I find you to be helpful, I may let you live.'

'You may let me life? Is my life a game to you?'

'Right now I can honestly say that it is. So now it is your time to either stop the lying or begin the dying,' Dawna spoke while straightening her back. 'What I am going to tell you now is enough for me to murder you right here and now and since I have no idea who you are anymore the chances are big that you will end up in a body bag. But not before you and I had this talk.'

The pale Queen stopped for a moment before clearing her throat.

'I might believe the thing you mentioned about my daughter and brother.'

'You do?' Pixie asked, clearly surprised. 'How come?'

'That is none of your business, I am not telling you any more than you need to know. The Gods can only know to whom you tell them,' her voice hissed angrily. 'However, I want answers about my little girl and Damien. I want to know the truth.'

'I've been telling you the truth, at least about that. If you want too, you could see it for yourself.'

This time, the pale Queen had been the one that was slightly surprised. 'And how exactly would I do that?'

'You can move heaven and earth so you must be capable of looking through my eyes and hearing with my ears for just a few seconds.'

Dawna weighted her options; yes, she was very much capable of doing such thing. Nonetheless, she was not sure whether or not it was a wise choice to see through her eyes at that point. What if this was all another one of her tricks?

'I know that this doesn't mean a lot coming from me, but you can trust me.'

Dawna scoffed, feeling the anger built up inside of her once again. 'You are right, it means absolutely nothing.'

'You could always kill me afterwards.'

This idea was very appealing to her, especially since she was too curious not to give in. Pixie was right, if this turned out to be a disaster the other woman would die anyways.

'Fine, give me your hands.'

The dotted woman obeyed and placed her warmer hands in her cold ones. 'If you want to talk just use your own voice; they'll respond to that too.'

It only took the pale woman a few seconds to figure out how she had to take over Pixies view and once she had her heart stopped beating. It had all been true. On the couch sat her brother, moving his short legs back and forth. He had a smile on his face once he realised that Dawna could see him. However, the thing that touched her the most was the little girl that was with him.

'D-Damien?'

'Hello there,' he spoke. 'That took you long enough.'

'H-How is this possible?' the now almost crying Queen asked. 'How are you even real?'

'I am not really real, not like you at least,' the little boy responded. 'But I could not leave you alone. You always make a mess out of things.'

It was weird hearing his voice that sounded exactly the same. His lips were moving but it was almost as if her brother spoke to her through their minds, not with real words.

'I have missed you,' Dawna spoke, feeling the first tear escape her eyes. 'I have missed you so, so much.'

'Believe me when I tell you that I have missed you too,' Damien answered. 'I do like my new friend; she looks just like you. I always hated that man that treated you so badly. He is no longer welcome here.'

'What about father? Is he there with you.'

'Sometimes,' the boy answered. 'He is not the same anymore, he is much happier and kinder.'

'What about mother?'

The little boy shook his head in regret. 'I have not seen her at all.'

'How is my little sunshine?'

'Neveah is doing great too; she is so sweet. We love playing together, just like Pixie told you. I read to her every night but sometimes I run out of stories. Could you tell us a story every now and then? I will promise that we will listen quietly!'

'How will I know that you hear it then?'

'Pixie can tell it for you, I really like her, you know. She tells us stories and sometimes even plays hide and seek with us, even though she always loses. Will you play with us too? Neveah is nice and all, but she does not say much.'

By that time, the pale woman was an absolute mess. There was no doubt in her mind left that this was not real. It really was her brother and her daughter. She looked just the same as the day she had been born, only had the blue colour on her skin turned in a pink and healthy colour. Her baby girl was absolutely perfect and beautiful.

'I am getting tired,' the little boy spoke before yawing. 'Shall we play another time?'

'Anytime you want, Damien, anytime,' the pale woman spoke before continuing whispering weakly. 'I love you, brother mine and I love you my darling daughter. See you soon.'

'See you,' the little boy spoke before waving at her with both his own, as her daughter's hand.

The Queen let go of her hands and allowed herself to fall back in her chair. Her hands quickly wiped away her tears, but Pixie had already seen her sadness.

'They have been here throughout the years to keep an eye on you. Your brother loves you unconditionally and your daughter knows how hard you have fought for her.'

'Why did you not tell me this before? Why wait until it was clear that you were going to die?'

'Because I know you, I know that you would have never believed me. It wasnt a selfish attempt to keep you from killing me, it truly wasn't. I thought that I would have had more time to explain it to you calmly, until I had no more time left. It may have been a bad timing, but you had to know that you weren't alone.'

'Oh, so suddenly you care about me?' the white-haired Queen asked. 'How strange that you betrayed me and then started to feel sympathy for me. I do not need your pathetic feelings and I do not want your kind words to numb the so-called pain you think I feel every day. The only thing I want is the truth.'

'I've given you the truth; what I said that day in the dungeon is true. I only joined the resistance out of anger, you had killed my father and I was so upset. People are starving out there and you do not seem to give a damn about that. How can you be so blind to their suffering? How can you allow children to die of starvation?'

'You really want to know the answer to that question?' the pale woman hissed. 'I allow it because I do not care whether they live or die. Right now, the only thing I care about it my Queendom in general. Do you have any idea how tough it is to be Queen? I am constantly worried that another army invades my realm and I am constantly worried that I will lose the support of the nobles. My life is stressful enough without having to worry about that amateur group that calls themselves a resistance panting in my neck.'

'You wouldn't have to worry about that if you would at least listen to their wishes. Your people just want to be heard without you poising them at your fancy parties. If you could just spend the money you waste on those dresses on food your people would be so grateful. Then you would have one concern less.'

'You really thing that it is so simple? Well I can tell you that it is not; if I give the people food, they will start to ask for other things such as education and better facilities. They will never stop having needs and I will not have an answer to all their calls.'

'That's not true at all and you know it,' the dotted woman reacted. 'You're scared, that's what is going on here. You fear that they will hate you for being you, you fear that they will see you as a monster.'

The pale woman hoisted herself from her chair and walked over the other woman with quick steps. 'This is not a smart move. One wrong word and I will burn the heart out of you right here. I will burn it out of you, do not test me and do not try my patience because I have none.'

'If you wanted to kill me I would already be dead,' the dotted woman reacted, straightening her back. 'I might be a traitor, but I was your friend for a reason. You enjoy my comebacks and you love the way I challenge you. Please believe me when I tell you that I enjoyed being your friend as well.'

'Let us skip this small talk, shall we?' the white-haired woman asked. 'I am going to give you two choices: you can either choose to die nevertheless, or you accept my terms and rules by adjusting yourself to them. I want you to stay inside the castle walls without expectations. You will be followed at any time by a guard that I trust and you will not be allowed to send letters to anyone and you cannot seek the contact of anyone on the outside for at least a month.'

'Are you giving me a house-arrest here? the dotted woman asked. Why won't you just kill me off to spare you the trouble.'

Dawna shrugged. 'You have a boy to take care of.'

'You've never cared about that,' Pixie pointed out, causing the pale women to roll her blue eyes in annoyance.

'You are right, as usual. You betrayed me, yes, but what you said was true as well. I happen to enjoy that fire inside of you and I would hate to see it go to waste, so I am giving you this opportunity. Now it is up to you to decide whether you will live or die.'

'I'll try to live by your rules,' the dotted woman spoke, much to Dawna's delight. 'If it turns out to be too hard for me you can finish me anyhow. I need to give this a fair chance for Loöys, but I do wish to at least explain the situation to my family. I can't just abandon them; they need to know that I'm alive and that I'll do whatever I can to stay alive.'

'Very well then,' the Queen spoke. 'Your house-arrest starts right now and I will make sure that you get to speak your family one last time.'

The pale woman knew that she had to give her a chance to tell her family what was happening, despite not caring about the people. Dawna was still very, very angry and upset with the other woman. However, part of her knew that killing Pixie would weaken the rebels up again and that was the last thing she needed.

'Thank you for doing this,' the dotted woman spoke. 'Thank you so much.'

'I am not doing this for you, so do not ever get that illusion. If anything, I am doing this for your son.'

'Well, then I can only thank you even more.'

'Do not mention it or you will get on my nerves,' Dawna hissed before she turned her back on the other woman and left her behind. Alone and probably even more scared then before. Whatever was going to happen next would not be easy for either of them, but only time could tell.