SERA'S POV
I don't sleep.
How can I? My mind keeps spinning around those two words: twin sister. Someone who shares my face, my blood—someone who wants me dead.
Why? What did I do to her?
What did I do to deserve any of this?
When the door finally opens again, pale morning light spills in. I've been sitting in the dark for hours, my wrists aching from the chains, my head pounding with questions I can't answer.
Caspian enters carrying a tray of food and something wrapped in cloth. He looks like he hasn't slept either—dark circles under his eyes, hair messy like he's been running his hands through it all night.
"You told me I have a sister," I say immediately. No greeting. No politeness. "Then you ran away. That's not fair."
"I know." He sets the tray down—bread, cheese, water. "I shouldn't have said it like that. The curse... it makes me say things I shouldn't, then punishes me for it."
I notice he's moving stiffly, like something hurts. "Is your mark causing you pain?"
"Always." He says it simply, like it's just a fact of life. "But it's worse when I try to tell you things the gods don't want you to know."
"Then why tell me anything at all?" I lean forward as far as my chains allow. "Why risk it?"
Caspian meets my eyes, and what I see there makes my breath catch. Determination. Anger. Something almost like... hope?
"Because," he says quietly, "I'm tired of being their puppet. And because you deserve to know the truth, even if it kills me to tell you."
Before I can respond, he unwraps the cloth bundle. Inside is a mirror—small, silver, old-looking.
"You said you don't remember your own face," he says. "I thought... maybe if you saw yourself, it might trigger something."
My heart starts racing. Do I want to see? What if I look in that mirror and see a monster? What if I look evil?
But I need to know.
"Show me," I whisper.
Caspian kneels in front of me, holding up the mirror with hands that shake slightly. I look.
The woman staring back at me is beautiful.
I don't say that because I'm proud. I say it because it's true, like saying the sky is blue. She has long dark hair that falls in waves past her shoulders. Smooth skin. High cheekbones. Full lips.
But it's her eyes that make me gasp.
They're gold. Pure, bright gold like melted sunlight. No human has eyes like that.
"That's... that's me?" I touch my face with my chained hands, watching the reflection do the same. "I don't recognize her. I don't recognize myself at all."
"You were—are—the Goddess of Dawn and Rebirth," Caspian says softly. "One of the most powerful divine beings in Celestia. The realm of the gods."
I tear my eyes from the mirror to look at him. "You're serious. You really believe I'm a goddess."
"I don't believe it. I know it." He lowers the mirror. "Three years ago, you fell from Celestia to the mortal realm. You've been unconscious here, in this cell, ever since. Until yesterday."
"Three years?" The number hits me like a punch. "I've been asleep for three years?"
"Yes. Bound by divine magic that sealed your memories and most of your power." He sets the mirror aside and reaches for my chains. "The seal should have held forever. But something's changing. Your power breaking through last night—that shouldn't be possible."
His fingers brush my wrist as he examines the chains. I feel a strange tingle where we touch, like tiny sparks jumping between us.
He feels it too. I can tell by the way he goes very still, his jaw clenching.
"Why are you really helping me?" I ask. "Don't say it's because you're tired of the gods. There's something else. Something you're not telling me."
Caspian's hands shake harder now as he adjusts my chains, making sure they're not cutting too deep into my scarred skin. He won't look at me.
"The gods commanded me to keep you locked here until they decide your fate," he says. "They told me you're dangerous. A traitor. Someone who tried to destroy everything they've built."
"But you don't believe that."
"No." The word comes out rough. Angry. "I don't."
"Why not?"
He finally meets my eyes, and the intensity there almost stops my heart.
"Because I've been receiving their divine communications for sixteen years," he says. "I know how they talk about mortals—like we're insects beneath their feet. I know how they punish anyone who questions them. And three years ago, when they sent you here..." He stops, struggling with something. His chest mark glows brighter. "The orders were wrong. The story didn't make sense. And I started digging."
"Digging for what?"
"The truth." His hands are still on my chains, still touching my wrists. "I found fragments. Pieces of what really happened. And what I found suggests you weren't trying to destroy the gods, Seraphina. You were trying to expose them."
My mouth goes dry. "Expose them for what?"
Caspian opens his mouth to answer—then his whole body goes rigid. The mark on his chest blazes bright blue, so bright I can see it through his shirt. He gasps in pain, doubling over.
"Caspian!" I reach for him instinctively, but my chains yank me back.
He's shaking now, sweat beading on his forehead. The curse is punishing him for saying too much.
"I'm sorry," he grits out through clenched teeth. "I can't—the curse won't let me—"
"Then stop! Don't say anything else!" I'm genuinely scared now, watching him suffer. "Please, just stop talking!"
Slowly, painfully, the glow fades. Caspian slumps forward, breathing hard.
"Are you okay?" I ask desperately.
"I will be." He sits back, wiping sweat from his face. "But I can't tell you more. Not directly. The curse won't allow it."
"Then how am I supposed to learn the truth?"
"You'll have to remember it yourself." He stands up shakily. "Your memories are sealed, but the seal is cracking. That's why your power is emerging. If we can break the seal completely..."
"I'll remember everything," I finish. "Including what I did. What my sister did. Why I'm really here."
"Yes."
Hope flares in my chest—then dies just as quickly.
"But the gods will never let that happen," I say. "If I'm dangerous to them with my memories sealed, imagine how dangerous I'd be if I remembered everything."
Caspian walks to the door, then pauses with his hand on the frame. When he turns back, there's something fierce and determined in his eyes.
"That's why," he says, "we're going to break your seal in secret. Before they can stop us."
"We?" I repeat. "You're going to help me?"
"I'm going to try." His jaw sets stubbornly. "Even if it kills me."
"They'll punish you. Maybe worse than death."
"I know." He meets my eyes one last time. "But I've spent sixteen years watching the gods destroy innocent lives. If you're the one person who tried to stand against them, then I'm done standing aside."
He turns to leave—then stops cold.
I hear it too. Footsteps outside. Multiple people.
Caspian's face goes pale. "Someone's coming. Someone from Celestia."
"How do you know?"
"Because I can feel it." He presses his hand to his chest. "The divine presence. Someone powerful just crossed into the mortal realm."
My heart hammers against my ribs. "My sister?"
"I don't know. But if they find out I've been talking to you like this, helping you..." He doesn't finish, but I understand.
They'll kill him.
The footsteps get closer.
Caspian backs toward the door, his face a mask again—cold, emotionless, the perfect servant.
"Remember," he whispers urgently. "Whatever happens next, whatever you see or hear—I'm your keeper. Nothing more. Understand?"
"But—"
The door explodes open in a blast of golden light.
And standing there, wearing my exact face, is my sister.