Two of the Same

Chapter Five *Gwyn*

Gwyneth jolted awake in shock feeling her heart racing in her ribs. She couldn't remember what it was that had woke her up; sitting still she listened for any peculiar sounds. 'Gwyn...' she turned suddenly at the sound of her own name whispering around her but with no one there to speak it.

"Who's there?" she called out, trying not to let the fear creep into her voice.

'Gwyn...help me.' This time the voice was clear, but even more so it was familiar.

"Father!" she whispered and leapt from her bed grabbing her knife she race from her room and down the hallway towards her father's chambers, fear was stabbing through her heart, unable to be quenched.

It felt as though she were walking through water as she came upon the two guards. Their blood was pooled in puddles of black, so dark that it reflected Gwyn's horrified face. She looked up and saw that her father's bed chamber door was ajar. She walked in tentatively not sure what she would find.

"Father?" she called out, the darkness in the room was almost impenetrable. She could hear voices reaching out to her mind, there were whispers, murmurs trying to communicate but not reaching her.

"Tyrain no!" she screamed out. There standing over her father, holding him by the throat was her beloved brother. Tyrain turned to face her but it was not her brother who stared out from behind those black eyes, at least not all of him. He grinned savagely at Gwyn and pressed a finger to his lips the blade still within his grasp and with that he turned back the King who was lying in the grasp of his own son at the mercy of his sword and hadn't said a word.

"Help! Someone please, help me!" Gwyn screamed out as she rushed towards the bed snatching at her brothers hands, grabbling for the knife. He pulled it away from her but she was stronger than what he had expected. They fell off the bed entangled the knife flashing in the air.

"Tyrain, stop, please don't do this." Gwyn begged desperately trying to pin his sword arm down. He gritted his teeth and did not answer but instead grabbed a chunk of her hair by the nape of her neck and forced her head back. Gwyn gasped in pain as she tried to free herself, watching her brother in utter terror as he gaze lingered on her exposed neck, his expression that of a wild dog eyeing its fresh kill. "Tyrain." She whispered with a gasp her hands still clawing at the hand that was tangled within her hair.

"I'm doing this for the good of everyone Gwyn; I'm doing this for us." Tyrain bent down to whisper in her ear, his cheek brushing against hers. She felt a chill race through her body as if the touch of death had just caressed her cheek. Gwyn shook her head and she could feel his jaw tense with anger. "He has lied to us Gwyn, he's lied to us since the day we were born, tricked us, pitted us against one and other right from the start. How can you claim to be so blind to his deception when its starring you right in the face." He gave a quick yank and Gwyn whimpered in pain.

"You're mad Tyrain, please you don't know what you're saying." She whimpered as he pulled his face away to stare into her eyes. She shied away from the nothingness in his eyes that seemed to swallow everything in its wake.

"You don't know do you? You honestly have no idea... wait...I can't feel you anymore, why can't I feel your thoughts anymore" he murmured shock evident in his expression.

"Enough Tyrain." A loud bellow made the twins look up to see their father, the kind standing tall at the edge of his bed, a sort of fire in his eyes that had never been seen before. Tyrain's grip on Gwyn loosened and she managed to squirm away as he stood to face the King.

"Tell her," he said venomously "tell her about he prophecy, about the future you dare to deny her! You tell her old man!" he yelled taking a menacing step forward the blade aloft in his right hand, ready to strike. "What have you done to her? How are you shielding her from me!" he demanded. The King met Tyrain's hostile gaze with one of pity, his sad eyes swimming with tears unshed.

"Father, what is he talking about?" Gwyn asked carefully standing up and stepping towards the two.

"Gwyn, do you recall when I told you to trust me?" her father asked his voice holding such a serene calmness that it was astounding. Gwyn nodded in silence and her faces lips turned up at the corners to form a small smile.

"Trust me." He whispered.

"I've heard enough of your nonsense! This ends now!" Tyrain yelled and charged at the King. Everything slowed down for Gwyn, almost as though everything were trying to move through an ocean. She watched, her screams silent to her own ears, as her brother attack. Her brother drew the dagger back, the point ready and waiting to strike, she watched as her father's arms opened almost as if he were giving his son a welcoming embrace, as if her were welcoming his own demise with open arms like an old friend. She saw the guards shadows on the wall as they hastened to the kings chambers, running to the aids of her screams for help. Gwyn knew already that they would arrive too late and that there was nothing she could do. Tyrain's blade cut through her father's chest and the two fell; Gwyn could see her father's face as he fell, his eyes meeting hers, there was such a peacefulness within his expression she could have thought that he was merely lying down for a nap. It all happened in a moment but Gwyn had watched it pass for a life time and then everything sped back up again and sound came back into her world even louder then when she had left. The guards were yelling and the incessant screams were her own. She raced forward, acting strictly on instinct, she threw her brother from her father; her limbs had taken on a strength Gwyn had not even know she possessed. She fell to her knees before her dying father, taking his hands; they were already growing cold with the touch of death. He was not long for this world.

"Father, please." She whispered as the tears began to fall, dripping from the tip of her nose and falling into his beard, disappearing without a trace. The kings eyes were clouding but still he lifted his hand up and cradled Gwyn's cheek in his palm, his thumb rubbed across her cheek brushing away her tears.

"Everything has happened how it should my dear." He whispered to her his voice fading.

"Father don't leave me, not yet." She whispered, frantically looking around for help. Suddenly her father seized her shoulders tightly; his eyes have such sharp clarity Gwyn could have sworn he was going to make it through.

"Gwyneth you will do wonderful things, be bold my child, you will do wonderful things...just like your mother." His voice faded away and his eyes clouded as his hands lost their grip. From his wound the flesh around him started to crystallize. It spread like venom and within moments his entire had changed, what once was flesh was now replaced with dark blue crystal. Entombing her father's likeness forever in this frozen state; leaving him to rest just as beautiful on the outside as he had always been on the indside.