Lies Beneath The Truth

Prologue

Twins at seven years old

"I found it!" Laurence exclaimed suddenly, pointing at the night sky with twinkling eyes. "I found the Pleiades!"

Laura narrowed her eyes besides him, scanning the twinkling stars more carefully. "Where?"

"There, right there!" He was too excited to be impatient that she hadn't found it yet. In fact, he traced the shape with his index finger of the visible stars for her to see. She followed it and saw the seven stars shining brightly in the dark sky, beckoning and lonely at the same time. He then turned to the king. "Father, we found it!"

The king ruffled both their tiny heads and nodded, smiling. The king was sitting crossed-leg in the middle of the rooftop, with the twins on each of his thigh. The royal family spent the night under the stars, looking out into the distance, absorb in the stories each star told. The king, too, looked up at the sky and stared longingly at it. There was a peaceful silence as they watched the night sky in awe. "May the Orphan Boys find happiness."

"I want to be friends with the wolves too!" Laura voiced out suddenly, breaking the silence.

"Hey that's my line!" Laurence protested, then declared. "I will be friends with them and rule both the human and animal kingdoms. You wouldn't oppose me so much then."

"I will be friends with them and make you fear them."

"Have you two learned nothing from the little Red Riding Hood?" The king said, interrupting the twins quarrel. "Has it not showed you enough how cunning wolves can be?"

"Surely not all the wolves, father," The twins turned to him simultaneously. Laura added, "The Orphan Boys were saved by the animals...it was their tribe who abandoned them!"

"Can humans do such cruel things?"

"I certainly know one who can."

"As do I." And the twins started their fight again.

"Children!" The twins stopped and looked sheepishly at their father. The king sighed. "Was I this noisy in the past too?" He paused before continuing. "Not all wolves are friendly, just as not all humans are respectable. Yet kindness emerged from all beings in an unlikely situation, like in the story of the Orphan Boys. Remember that in mind." The twins stared at their father, nodding slowly, his words weighting in their young mentality. Smiling, he added quietly. "Listen, the wolves are howling."

Under the dark shadowed by trees, the wolves howled. Howling for their lost friends. Howling to haunt the tribe forever for their cruelty. It was a sad howling indeed. "If the boys had not asked the Great Spirit to take them to the sky, how long do you think they will go on living with the wolves?"

The twins considered. Before they could answer his question however, a boy's voice interrupted them. "Laura, Laurence, are you up here? How many times do I have to told you to -" The twins noticed him cut himself short when he saw the king. "Your majesty."

"Lysander," the king acknowledged. The twins stood up and skipped to the side to let their father stand. "What is the matter that makes you call out my children's name so urgently, and so loudly, at this hour?"

Lysander avoided the king's gazed. No one could call the royals by their real names until they reached a marriageable age, except members of the royal household. It was a law that the current king imposed on the palace upon the birth of the twins, though no one could make much sense of it. That being the case, Lysander was not one of them and he had been caught red-handed.

"Father, he is our close friend." Laura defended.

"A friend is a friend. A law is a law."

"I heard you and Earl Thomas discussing at dinner earlier for a night walk." Laurence quickly came up with an excuse. "Sorry for keeping you here father, we don't want him waiting."