Twin Powers: Raising RuZo

Chapter 2

Wiping the sleep from her eyes, Zoe heard Eve busy in the kitchen. She made her way downstairs and took a seat at the table.

"Hungry?" Eve asked, placing a plate that had been stacked high with pancakes in front of her.

"Famished," Zoe said, staring at the pancakes and pouring sticky syrup over them. Looking up at Eve, her stomach flipped uneasily.

Eve's eyes were red and puffy, and her mouth twitched as she tried to force it to smile.

The phone in the corner of the room rang unexpectedly, and Zoe answered it.

"Okay, —uh huh, —no problem," she said distractedly, as she stayed focused on Eve.

Eve sat at the table and nursed a warm cup of tea. Sipping slowly, she stared into space not noticing that Zoe had hung up the phone and stood watching over her. Neither did Zoe notice that she was being observed by a small, grey kitten that had appeared at the open window behind her.

With her shoulders hunched and head hung forward, Eve looked frail and defeated. Zoe returned to sit next to her, and Eve looked up, placing her cup down on the table. Zoe searched her eyes for their usual sparkle, but it was nowhere to be found. Wondering what could have happened, she recalled the abrupt finish to their conversation the previous night.

"You haven't eaten much, for someone who's famished," Eve said, breaking the silence.

"Who's Vee?" Zoe asked softly, as she looked into Eve's eyes.

"My sister. —My twin sister," Eve whispered, tears welling in her eyes.

Zoe's jaw dropped.

"Your twin!" She said, "I didn't know you had a sister. I didn't know you had a twin sister."

"She's in Lanoitar," Eve began to explain, her gaze drifting back to her cup as she recalled the day they'd travelled there together.

Meanwhile, the kitten had squeezed through the window and jumped to the floor without making a sound. Sitting at Eve's feet, it gently reached up to rest its paws on her knee. As Eve leant back in her chair and looked down to investigate, it hopped into her lap and curled into a ball.

Zoe reached out and touched the kitten's soft fur.

"Look, it's hurt, it's got a nick in its ear, poor thing," she said, taking a tissue from her pocket and wiping the ear gently.

"What have you been up to?" Eve asked, cradling the kitten's head in the palm of her hand and stroking its nose, as she inspected the wound.

"Let's call her Nicky," Zoe said as she prepared a saucer of milk for the kitten.

When she returned to the table, the kitten had fallen asleep in Eve's arms. Cradling it, Eve looked relaxed, and Zoe was pleased to see her sadness lifting. Intrigued by Eve's revelation, Zoe steered the conversation back to Vee and Lanoitar which she'd heard many tales about.

"Was Vee a rebel?" She asked.

"No," Eve said, stifling a laugh.

"A bohemian?"

"No," Eve shook her head and giggled.

"A traitor! —Was she a traitor?" Zoe gasped excitedly.

Eve pursed her lips, she'd felt betrayed by Vee in the past, but she certainly wasn't a traitor. "No! Where is this coming from?" She said, scratching her head.

"Daniel from next door," Zoe said, pointing to the house behind, "he said that the territory of Lanoitar's lawless and that the Prince Regent, Siegfried, is a fickle fool. He said the territory's full of traitors, bohemians and rebels who were sent there when King Cailean died."