I never liked bright lights, they always seemed to attack me, shaming me for who I was even as they praised my sister for everything I wasn’t.

The golden mage lights of the ballroom were particularly offensive, to both my eyes and self-esteem as they showed everything I wasn’t: bright, powerful or happy.

It’s always been like that, for as long as I could remember. My sister, Issa got everything one could want, be it love, magic and respect while I got nothing but a room to sit and hide in to not shame my family with my existence.

‘That’s where she is.’ I thought as I saw my sister mingling among the guests, bathing the room in warmth by her very presence.

I couldn’t hear anything of what she spoke as she was too far but her presence was impossible to miss and so I looked at her, she who was everything I wasn’t.

Her gold hair and white dress were the only thing that was visible from this distance but not even distance could mask the sheer energy and positivity her mere presence inspire n those near her.

I suddenly felt a shiver running down my spine and I desperately tried to find the cause.

It didn’t take me long to notice the strange presence which made me feel this way and I turned towards it. What met me were the cold eyes of a predator, the green of the forest in all its beauty and all its hunger.

I felt myself freeze like how a mouse would freeze in front of a cat. Those eyes belonged to a predator and its prey was me.

I tried to scream or to get away but she covered my mouth before I could and I could feel my body go limp as it gave up the struggle and the pretense of resistance.

‘Is this how it ends?’ I thought as I resigned myself to my fate.

‘Why, why me? What did I…’I tried to think to bemoan my fate but again the green eyes interrupted me, their holder whispering in my ear.

“Let’s not make this more difficult than it has to Your Highness.” Her eyes met mine and I felt myself freeze up.

‘So pretty.’ Was all my tired mind could think as I beheld the strange sight in front of me.

The young woman was older than me and was dressed in standard maid attire, a pretty heart shaped face that looked more like a painting than a living being. Said painting was framed by shoulder length brown hair and crowned by the strange cloth most maids had on their head. The masterpiece however wasn’t its red lips or its porcelain like skin, no it was the deep Green of her eyes that held a thousand emotions, some familiar and some not but that together painted an image as haunting in its otherness as it was disconcerting in its familiarity.

The voice held a strange mix of emotions, happiness, smugness and a feeling of superiority I was intimately acquainted with. However, it lacked something I couldn’t quite grasp in my state of mind and replaced it with something foreign which I have never experienced.

I felt her push something into me, no, not into me but into my hand and then gently closed it, giving me the contents and hiding them from sight. I felt my lethargy suddenly die as confusion replaced it.

‘What?’

“Go somewhere remote and enjoy your gift Your Highness.” She whispered in my ears, a voice sweeter than anything I had ever tasted.

It took me what felt like ages to realize that it lacked the hostility and distaste, hidden or otherwise, that colored the voice of everyone I had ever met once they realized who I was.

“It’s not fair that only one twin enjoy the cake after all.” She spoke, still barely a whisper but my ears felt warm, as if someone shouted into them for hours.

I felt warm, it wasn’t the warmth normally associated with sadness and crying albeit I could feel that the two were somehow related, like the dance and song of the artists on a stage but distinct in their own way.

I stammered, a strange mix emotions filling my chest as I tried to make sense of what just happened.

It took me seconds to recover but by the time I did all I could see was her figure dressed in a black and white maid dress with white frills and with her brown hair moving further and further away from me. With each of her steps I felt the strange warmth leaving me. My chest craved it more and more, even as it slowly disappeared and I felt the same longing I’ve felt for so much of my life return.

It was something I never even noticed existed until it was gone but when it settled back it felt heavier than ever.

After some consideration, I obeyed the Green’s command and went to my room, unnoticed and unapproached.

The road there was short and nobody stopped me. There in front of the black door that separated my domain from the hostile reality that was the castle I hesitated. I don’t know why, maybe it was fear, maybe it was something else but I stopped and looked around, searching for whatever gave me that feeling of hesitation.

‘Maybe it’s the Green again?’ I thought with both trepidation and longing.

Both disappointed and relieved at the Green’s absence I decided to ignore the strange feeling and entered my room.

Seconds later I was on my bed, the strange ‘gift’ in front of me as I decided on what to do. I had my eyes closed in contemplation as I decided contemplated on my options.

After careful deliberation I finally looked at what the Green said was my ‘gift’.

It was a handkerchief with the words ‘Happy birthday’ being hastily written with a red liquid that left a red imprint on the material of the handkerchief.

Curious I decided to open the poorly wrapped object inside with great care, lest the Green take offense somehow and come find me.

‘Would it be such a bad thing?’ A treasonous voice whispered in my mind but I did my best to ignore it.

I reverently I finished unwrapping the package and looked at its contents. What greeted me was a piece of cake with red strawberry on its sides with a white topping and chocolate insides.

I stood dumbfounded at it and after a second of taking into consideration whether or not this is some sort of contrived assassination attempt I decided to take a bite. Not like I lost much even if it was.

I took it in my hands and took a bite of the cake, chocolate and strawberry dirtying my hands.

It was gone in seconds. It was also the best thing I ever tasted.