Treacherous Decisions

Part 3

That night, when I left the palace, my heart would not stop beating. It was like this surge of energy spun through me and I could barely think.

I knew you would be returning home soon, so I turned my energy into making cranberry sauce. You see, I usually only made it when I was trying to come up with reasons why my clothes were stained red. The fragrant berries also hid the smell of my victims quite nicely. But most importantly, you never disturbed me when I was making the sauce (I told you there would be more on this).

Though, tonight was different.

No, you entered and did not immediately flee to your room. Instead you sat at our old table and watched me work. Your gaze felt as heavy as an anvil.

Dear sister, I could not speak for my tongue had swollen and my throat had dried out.

Yet, you still tried to converse with me.

"Katrin, are you ill?" you asked me.

Oh how my hands shook. You were cruel, sister. I could only shake my head. My heart threatened to beat out of my chest.

You stood up and meandered to the fireplace. You took father's old pipe off the mantel and inspected it. Something dark passed over your features. "You would tell me if you were ill?"

I do remember nodding my head, but I truly didn't feel that way.

You placed the pipe back on the mantel. "We had to execute a girl while her older sister watched." Your words were laced with a sadness I'd never heard before. "All I could think about was you."

I froze at this, for surely you knew about my deadly exploits. Truly, I thought you were about to abandon every last piece of loyalty you had to me and I would need to reevaluate why I assumed you would not turn me in.

The sauce started to boil at that moment and the liquid burned my hand.

I let out a tiny scream, not because I was truly in horrendous pain, but because I was shocked I let you distract me.

My fears were quelled when you were beside me in the next heartbeat. This worry seemed to crease your brows and a deep concern threaded between the irises of your emerald eyes. "Katrin, are you alright?"

I did snatch my hand away from you, but rest assured, I was not cross. No. Rather, I was relieved that you still concerned yourself with my safety.

I knew you would not betray me.

More importantly, you were unaware of my tendencies.

"I'm quite alright, Lydia." I went back to making the sauce.

The sigh you released is still firmly planted in the forest of my memories. "I don't know what I would do without you. After losing Jacks and Mother and Father–"

"I am going nowhere. Fear not."

You tucked a strand of your chestnut hair behind your ear. The gesture was quite endearing. "You know..." you paused as if measuring the worth of your words. "I will always be here for you."

I nodded. But you must understand that although we have spoken many times throughout our existence, this was truly the first time your words have ever pierced straight through to my heart. Maybe you were not just my sister. Maybe you were not merely someone I cohabitated with but someone who truly saw me. Not as a tool or a monster, but a sister. We both will bleed the same color, but perhaps we are tied together by some invisible thread of fate. Maybe being sisters is not a title you are just born with. Maybe it is a name for those who are destined to be tied together for eternal loyalty.