PROLOGUE

Silence.

The married couple looked in silence at the babies in front of them who were both looking at them in silence too. They were supposed to be crying like what the midwife had told them but they were just staring back at them quietly. No one knew exactly how long they had been staring at each other like that but Dalo was sure that it had been a long time; long enough to make his arms feel numb as he gently cuddled the babies closer to him.

 Virginia looked worriedly at her husband. “They are the ones he is looking for.”

Dalo, looking pale and worn-down, sat beside her wife and looked at the newly born babies in his arms. Both had a few strands of red hair they inherited from their mother and a pair of teary eyes that were looking at him with wonder.

“This can’t be happening,” he said in disbelief.

Virginia, in a very weak voice, recited her kremp.

The twins will soon ignite a fire

A fire that the demon should never acquire

Protect them at all cost

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Before everything is lost

“We can’t let him have them,” Virginia said and began crying. “We have to protect them. He should never know the truth.”

“We could be wrong,” Dalo convinced Virginia with very little confidence in his voice. “They couldn’t be the only one.”

The sun rose and filled their small room with light that brought warmth to their freezing hands. Both Dalo and Virginia looked at the window with fear in their hearts and watched as the sun slowly ascend. A new day had come and they dreaded what the future had in store for their children. The present was already hard as it was for common citizens like them so they were sure that their twins, possessing a characteristic that were never heard before, will make things more complicated.

The twins then started crying. Instinctively, Virginia reached out her hand to her children. She sat up and leaned forward a little to have a better view of her babies but Dalo suddenly stood up and cried in horror before she could even take a good look at them. His knees then started trembling hard until they both gave in and had him sitting on the wooden bed again.

Ignoring the pain, Virginia forced herself to move closer at her husband and looked at her babies. And when she saw them, she too cried and shook her head in despair for there was no mistaking that it was her twins who the king wanted dead.

No amount of lies could hide the fact of what her twins really were.

“Leave… now,” Virginia said in between sobs. “Take the children.”

Dalo shook his head.

“They will be here any moment now.” Virginia kissed the babies on their forehead. “Be safe, my children.”

“No,” Dalo begged. “Come with us.”

Virginia kissed him softly on the lips and whispered, “I love you.”

Outside, they heard shouts and saw armored men marching their way up. Seeing this, Virginia took a small piece of paper from underneath her pillow and put it inside one of her husband’s pocket. She had tried burning it before but she failed like any other Rivignians who tried to get rid of their kremps.  

“They should never have my kremp,” she whispered and glanced at her two babies who were still crying as if begging her to come with them. “Go.”

“I’ll come back for you,” Dalo promised.

Virginia smiled. “Protect them.”