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A ringing bell woke sarah up. Someone was summoning her. She raised her sleepy eyes to check which room the call came from.

The queen...

She flew off the bed without thought and raced through the servant quarters worried about the queen. Since the queens illness took a turn for the worse three months ago, she could barely move herself and had a maid with her all the time.

As she neared the palace she wondered whether the assigned maid had left. When she entered the queens room she met the assigned maid standing towards the edge of the bed while the queen looked at her with an expression she couldn't decipher.

Perplexed she stepped closer and dropped down on one knee "greetings your majesty... You sent for me" she told her half hoping she would say it was a mistake

"yes i did... Please Call my two sons" the queens strong voice rang out clear with authority despite her ill health.

Sarah was confused. Why would the queen call her all the way from her room for such a trivial message when there were others nearby who could do it. And then there was that look on the queens Face.

She was lost in thoughts and didn't know when she arrived prince Isaac's room. Since she didn't want to face either sons she decided to yell the message from across the door. She would use the queens illness as an excuse if queried. Satisfied with herself she returned to the queens room

"My queen, i have done as you asked. May i leave now?" her head was bowed

"no.. You are to stay"

Sarah looked up sharply but didn't say anything. Instead she moved to stand beside the wall where she would almost be invisible.

"Mother what is wrong?" Daniel hurried in with Isaac at his heels

"nothing Daniel. Am alright"

"then why have you called for us" Isaac asked in an angry tone

The queen turned to the maid "leave us"

"what is she doing here" Isaac pointed at Sarah

"i requested her presence as she is the reason for this conversation" the queen told him simply.

Prince Isaac mumbled something in annoyance while surprise and fear squeeze Sarah's heart. She didn't like the direction things were going. She scanned her memory for any offence she might have committed but came up with nothing. Sarah sighed in frustration

" i have a story to tell you all" the queen began "a long time ago there was a young lady whose family was second in line to the throne. if the king bore no heirs then she would have to take over as queen. But she wanted the crown at all cost and so she murdered the king and queen"

Sarah listened wondering where the queen was going with her story

"she didn't stop there, she took the one year old child of the king. She was able to do all this because the king trusted her greatly and so the crime was never traced to her. She ruled as queen but she lost her peace" the queen looked up with haunted eyes

"mother what is your point" Isaac asked impatiently. Listening to an Old tale that didn't concern him in any way was not how he wanted to spend his morning. He would rather be out there making his future subjects tremble in fear at his presence.

But the queens next words erased all kinds of thoughts from his head.

"i am that power hungry lady" audible gasps echoed in the room but the queen was not yet through "Sarah is that one year old child"

"what?" Sarah screamed

"you are the rightful heir to the throne" she addressed Sarah and then turned to her sons "please present her to the council and let the right thing be done... Am sorry"

"how did no one recognize me all this years" Sarah still did not believe it

"i took you to somewhere far away from the kingdom and only brought you back when you were no longer easily recognizable. I made sure to keep you within the palace walls for fear of you been recognized"

"mother how could you?" Daniel yelled at his mother. How could she hurt Sarah like that. In his mind he had excused his mothers neglect of him and blamed her responsibilities for it. But now he wasn't so sure anymore. It seemed to him that the woman he called his mother had no heart

"am sorry please forgive me" the queen begged and began to cough violently

Daniel rushed to her side.. No matter what the queen did.. She was still his mother

Sarah was too shocked to do anything than just stare into space and turn everything over in her mind including the implications of the queens confession. She was the heir not Isaac. She could only imagine what Isaac would do to anyone who stood on his way to the throne.

As she looked up her eyes met with Isaac's venom filled graze and she shivered in fear.