You hear a door being knocked and the creak of its hinges as it is opened.

“Wha—“

“Ssh, she’s good with voices,” Luhan says, preventing you from identifying the person inside the room the three of you are entering.   You are set down on what you feel as a stool and before your hands could go to the blindfold to rid of it, you feel Luhan’s hands stop yours as he quietly says, “Standard secrecy procedures apply, Amara,”

Hearing the caution in his voice, you bite back your impatient reply and nod instead, which is when Luhan decides to let go of your hands and allow yourself to take off the blindfold.

You scan the room you’re in and find it shabby, old with age, the light flickering because it’s coming from the candles set upon the walls, which are unsculpted, made of rough stone.

After the room comes the people present in it.  Baekhyun, leaning at the wall by the door, Luhan, sitting in front of you, and—

“Lara?” You frown, taking in her familiar features.

“Hello, Amara,” She says, a friendly smile on her face.

“Yeah, hi,” You smile back, but your brows stay furrowed as you begin to address the two siblings.  “Why did you guys bring me here?”

“I think, the question is actually; why did you guys bring her here like that?” Lara cuts you off, her voice stern and her tone reprimanding.

The strangeness heightens as you see the two lower their heads, their impertinent selves hidden somewhere else. 

“She’s a lady, for God’s sake.  You don’t treat a lady like that,” Lara continues.

You grimace, but mutter quietly, “After kissing me together too—“

Lara gasps as she hears your words.  “You kissed her?! Together?!”

“Pecked her!” Luhan and Baekhyun say in unison, emphasizing the word and glaring at you.

“And tickled me, and trapped me, and eavesdropped, and carried me like a sack of potatoes, and blindfolded me,” You telltale, making use of the peculiar control Lara has over the two.

“Oh dear, and I thought I raised you two right,” Lara puts a hand to her forehead and proceeds to sit on her bed, the springs creaking under her.

“You did, you did,” Baekhyun lifts his hand up, palms facing Lara as he tries his reasoning.  “It was because she was getting around to knowing that we were keeping secrets,”

“And that we both agreed that we could tell her, about it,” Luhan continues.

“Also because she’s got some secrets on us too and surely she doesn’t want that to spill over, right?” Baekhyun whispers at your ear.

“I heard that,” Lara stands and pinches Baekhyun’s ear between her fingers, pulling him away from you as he exclaims multiple “Ow!”s.  “I did not raise the two of you right,” She sighs, looking up to the ceiling as she mutters, “Oh forgive me, God,”

“But, mother, we were taking precautions,” Luhan defends.

“Yes, secrecy precautions,” Baekhyun adds in, rubbing his ear with a grimace on his face.

You roll your eyes at the two, “Oh, so you two cant trust me enough when I tru—“  You halt your words, reeling back at the words the siblings had said.  “Wait, wait, wait, wait a minute,” You stand up and back away a little bit, eyeing the three together.  “Mother?”

“Here we go, Baek,” Luhan nods at his younger brother, and the two plasters an amused smile on their faces.

“Wait a second, that means, that means that the Queen is not your mother? Is it not your mother or not your birth mother? But what, how could you become Princes if you weren’t the Queen’s sons?   And Lara, you just called her mother so she’s your mother? Technically or literally? Then again, you sent her to care for my bandages back then, so you were sending a clue or something? How the heck am I supposed to figure that out from tha—“ You stop by yourself, narrowing your eyes at Lara.

“Whoa, she actually stopped,” Baekhyun whistles.

“Yep, I’m the idiot,” You put your hands up, as if giving up.

“What did you do to her?” Luhan stares at Baekhyun in bewilderment.

“Wait, you’re admitting you’re an idiot?” Baekhyun asks you, as stunned as Luhan is.

“How could I have not realized your similarities?” You start to yourself again, clucking your tongue with irritation.  “So obvious and I didn’t see it and it was right there.  What is wrong with my eyes? But hey, really now, I wouldn’t, I meant, who would expect Lara to be your mo—“

“Okay, calm down, Amara,” Lara speaks up, and you shut up.

“Wow, you shut her up in one try,” Luhan grins.

“Calm, yep, check, I am calm, absolutely calm,” You mess your own hair up.

Lara takes your hand and pulls you down to sit beside her on her bed. 

“You look so young,” You shake your head, still not believing it.

Lara chuckles and makes a move to pull the hairband off your braid.  “Thank you and let me fix that,” Her hands gently unravel your braid, only to redo it slowly as she speaks.  “Yes, I am their mother.  Their birth mother, if you need details.  I gave birth to them, but due to several reasons, I end up being acknowledged as their caretaker, and the Queen as their mother,”

“The several reasons being the Queen’s fear of humiliation due to her inability to have kids,” Baekhyun says.

Luhan sighs, and continues for Baekhyun,“And the fact that the deceased King had fallen in love with one of his housemaids, which happens to be—“

“Yours truly,” Lara finishes the sentence as she finishes your braid.  “Pretty as a picture,” She pats your cheek with a smile.  “I’ve always wanted a daughter,”

“Hey!” Baekhyun and Luhan protests, evoking laughter from the older woman.

“But why are you in a place like—?” You trail off.

“Which is why we don’t like the Queen,” Luhan clears his throat and glances at your eyes.  A flash of memory comes to you as you remember his tone when he mentions the Queen. 

“Ever since the King died, it’s like she’s the boss, or whatever,” Baekhyun spits with disgust.  “Treating mother like this, like she’s some housemaid and forbidding us to see her because she thinks that it might bring talk among the residents,” He mimics a woman’s way of talking and rolls his eyes.

“But that’s not all,” Luhan’s eyes turn serious.  “We think that she’s up to no good, to put it simply,”

Baekhyun nods.  “That she’s working together with someone opposing the city and the castle,”

“Which is where you come in, because—?” Luhan asks, gesturing for you to catch up and to continue.

“Because you suspect that she’s working with the Rebellion,” You answer, the secrets dawning on you as you fiddle with your sleeves.  “Complicated, much?”

“I know, it’s tiring, with only the three of us to keep it,” Baekhyun sighs.  “Now there’s four,” He throws you a charming grin.

You eye the two and an understanding passes between your eyes and Baekhyun’s.

There’s something else kept here.

And here is not the place to talk about it.

“Amara is trustworthy, Luhan, Baekhyun,” Lara shakes her head.  “I can’t believe you went to such lengths to make sure to keep the secret in, when you want to let her know,” She pats your hand.  “You boys are probably just being naughty,”

“I know they are,” You glare at the siblings, who laugh it off.

A loud gong resounds in the distance, and you know that it’s an indication for the nightly hours. 

“Better get going now,” Lara dusts your dress for you and gives Luhan and Baekhyun a kiss on their foreheads and cheeks, and brings their hands onto her lips.  “Do good, boys,”

“Will do, mother,” The two answer in unison.

“And my dear, Amara,” She takes your hands too and you let out a melancholy smile at the way she softly lays her lips on your knuckles.  “You do good, and be safe,” Her hands cup your cheek.

You lean in to her warmth and answer as the two did, “Will do, Lara,”

“Take care of my boys for me,” She winks at you before closing the door behind you.

“Watch out, it’s a tad bit dark,” Luhan takes the lead and Baekhyun stays on your back as the three of you mount the uneven stairs.

You repeatedly slip as you are unfamiliar to the surface, but Baekhyun always manages to catch your elbow, or shield you from falling with his own body, asking you whether or not you were okay all the time.

“We were also preventing those from happening,” Luhan throws you an apologetic smile over his shoulder, referring to the fact that they carried you down the stairs instead of letting you walk down yourself.

As the three of you come out in the open, you realize that Lara’s quarters are positioned under a tower at the far end of the castle, most probably giving her trouble to access her workstations.  Yeah, the Queen’s kind of annoying, you scowl to yourself.

And in the night, in the dark, under the moon and the stars, accompanied by the silent wind, Baekhyun speaks as quiet as possible as he faces you and puts his hands on your shoulder, levelling his eyes with yours.

“Amara, the Queen also killed our father,” He said.

“And caused our mother the biggest heartbreak, and grief, in her entire life,” Luhan says quietly, standin beside Baekhyun.

“And,” Baekhyun stands up straight, a similar fire of hatred burning in his dark brown eyes as it does in Luhan’s hazel ones.  “And our mother doesn’t even know,”

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