Excerpt #2 SOT Book One: Worlds Apart
She turned.
And froze.
She was looking into a mirror.
No. Not looking into a mirror.
The image before her was gaunt and pale. A purple-yellow bruise almost covered the left eye and there was a deep purple bruise on the right cheek. Her hair hadn’t been washed or combed for awhile and her clothing looked somewhat ragged. Her lower lip was freshly cut: there was still some dried blood there. Her hands were shackled in front of her.
Except for these glaring differences, she was the mirror image of Barbara herself.
“Who are you?” Barbara finally asked breathlessly.
And though it was evident that it pained her to do so, the woman opposite Barbara smiled. Her eyes were moist with tears as she said, “I’m your twin sister.”
Barbara could only stare at the woman for several long moments. She wasn’t even certain she had heard the woman correctly. “My -” She stopped, for it wasn’t the word twin or the word sister which was about to escape her lips. Instead, she spoke a name she hadn’t spoken in many years.
“Tiernan,” she breathed.
A wave of memories washed over her, threatening to flood her with their velocity.
Holding Jean’s hand and walking through the mirror, looking back over her shoulder and waving to her twin - her twin sister - as tears poured down both their cheeks.
Their father - her father - smoothing her hair, telling her softly that she would have to go away for awhile so that she would be safe.
Early morning, Daddy sleeping in, twin girls having other ideas, giggling twin girls making Daddy laugh when Tiernan tickled his nose with a feather, Kiernan tickling his ear with a feather.
Kiernan.
Tiernan.
Jessica Tiernan.
Barbara Kiernan.
The first set of twins to be born in the Realm in over twenty-five years.
The only two people in the Realm with two names.
Barbara Kiernan.
Daddy’s little princess.
And froze.
She was looking into a mirror.
No. Not looking into a mirror.
The image before her was gaunt and pale. A purple-yellow bruise almost covered the left eye and there was a deep purple bruise on the right cheek. Her hair hadn’t been washed or combed for awhile and her clothing looked somewhat ragged. Her lower lip was freshly cut: there was still some dried blood there. Her hands were shackled in front of her.
Except for these glaring differences, she was the mirror image of Barbara herself.
“Who are you?” Barbara finally asked breathlessly.
And though it was evident that it pained her to do so, the woman opposite Barbara smiled. Her eyes were moist with tears as she said, “I’m your twin sister.”
Barbara could only stare at the woman for several long moments. She wasn’t even certain she had heard the woman correctly. “My -” She stopped, for it wasn’t the word twin or the word sister which was about to escape her lips. Instead, she spoke a name she hadn’t spoken in many years.
“Tiernan,” she breathed.
A wave of memories washed over her, threatening to flood her with their velocity.
Holding Jean’s hand and walking through the mirror, looking back over her shoulder and waving to her twin - her twin sister - as tears poured down both their cheeks.
Their father - her father - smoothing her hair, telling her softly that she would have to go away for awhile so that she would be safe.
Early morning, Daddy sleeping in, twin girls having other ideas, giggling twin girls making Daddy laugh when Tiernan tickled his nose with a feather, Kiernan tickling his ear with a feather.
Kiernan.
Tiernan.
Jessica Tiernan.
Barbara Kiernan.
The first set of twins to be born in the Realm in over twenty-five years.
The only two people in the Realm with two names.
Barbara Kiernan.
Daddy’s little princess.
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