The wheels of a clunky carriage merrily went down the forest path. The brother and sister, seemingly indistinguishable from one another, except for the fact that the girl wore a dress and her thin oily hair was longer and combed in a bun. Elderly in appearance but in all honesty no younger than twenty, with faces distorted by menacing grins, they sang as their rag horse pulled their heavy home,
"Trick and scheme,
trick and scheme,
Oh, the joy of being mean.
Oh! our homes has four great wheels,
so now we go with glee,
to the kingdom very far away,
to get some shiny gold.
And when we get that gold!
And when we get the gold!
We'll be back on the road!
Trick and scheme,
trick and scheme.
Oh, the joy of being meeeeeean!"
The duo sang heartily, with their promised reward clearly in their minds.
The king of The Seven Hill Kingdom, had paid the siblings a visit a full moon ago. As he stepped inside their humble home. He looked around at the small place filled with all kinds of magical trinkets and knick-knacks. "Do any of these work?" the grumpy man asked, wrinkling his nose to the smell of dust and bad air.
"If they ever did, they stopped a long time ago," the sister with an unusually deep voice replied.
The brother tittered, the more polite of the two. "What my sister is trying to say is that these magnificent pieces before you are merely relics of a more magical time," the brother added theatrically.
"I see." The ruler frowned. "So, how do you plan to do the deed?"
"It is very simple, your Highness," the sister said, covering herself with a colorful scarf and sitting upon a chair next to a large crystal ball. The shiny surface of the object was smooth and transparent with a large crack on the side. "I will use the art of persuasion to get your youngest brother to come in," she cackled, waving her hands over the large reflective surface. The once transparent ball started to glow tinted orange.
The noble man watched the light in awe, not noticing the carriage becoming increasingly darker.
"And when he is completely hooked on her every word, that is where I come in," the brother was heard from somewhere. The sister's hands conjured up shadows in the crystal ball, resembling a dashing knight. Another shadow appeared, that of a woman with long hair and a large belly. The two shadows moved towards each other. As they were about to kiss, the female shadow began to shake. Her large belly dropped and a small covered baby came out from under her long dress.
The large, usually arrogant man, watched biting his nails from anxiety. He had never seen such a thing. The shadows moved as if they were puppets, but there were no strings in sight.
Once the dark female figure stopped shaking, she took the bundle in her arms. The male shadow delightedly jumped with his hands in the air. Coming closer, the female shadow opened the blanket to reveal a small head of a wolf. The shadow of the man flinched, moving away. He looked at the female shadow, furiously waving his arms and opening his mouth. She looked at the wolf child calmly. The small cub licked her with its tongue. Happy, she extended it towards the male shadow. That is when the shadow representation of the prince, took his sword and slayed them both.
His oldest brother gasped loudly. "It can't be... Did it already happen? Are they gone?" he yelled excited.
The brother chuckled. "No, your Highness," he said as the sister removed the covers from the windows. The crystal ball was no longer bright. The shadows were gone as well.
"This is a mere presentation of what will happen. For a right price, of course," the twin brother said in a silky sly tone coming out from underneath the table cloth. Tin shapes resembling the ones from the ball were in his hands. His sister took the lamp, which was hiding behind the table, and blew the flame out.
Nathaniel grinned pleased. "Money is not an issue," the uttered blunt. "Now, how soon can you come?"
The twins looked at each other and smiled. "How soon would you like, your Highness?" they replied in unison.
In present time, and a month after his oldest brother's returned, Aidan was walking in the forest with Chirp on his shoulder. The young royal swayed his sword gloomy, as the bird kept him company.
Imitating his wife's high-pitched voice, he declared, "All you do is play with your knights? Why can't you help me more? And why are you always mumbling to yourself?"
He lowered his head and grumbled, "Does she not see I am making plans for our future? Nathaniel will not sit idly for long. We have to find ways, to secure our safety."
"Chirp! To be honest, it is difficult to follow. The family relations among you humans would make most pack animals scratch their heads."
"And her constant mood changes," Aidan continued sad. "It is as if I cannot say a single thing right... She says I don't take my duties seriously. And then when I do offer a hand, she scolds me as if I was a child. It was a simple mistake... One bad stroke of a quill and we ended up with 1000 roasted hams instead of a 100."
"Well, at least the feast will be festive. Hopefully, no one will get the gout," Chirp said, trying to be sympathetic.
"Oh, my dear friend. You have no idea how lucky you are to be a bird. At least you don't have to deal with cradles and diapers."
"Chirp! That is probably true. Laying an egg is a much faster process. Although it is a bit of a nuisance to have to feed so many mouths at once. Large, wide, always screaming mouths," the little bird shivered.
Prince Aidan sat on a rock and let out a deep sigh. "What am I going to do, Chirp? I love her so. And I cannot wait to meet our baby... If only I knew how to make her happy."
The little bird chirped slightly sad.
"Have you ever thought about it? Finding your better half? Starting a family?" his human friend spoke.
"Chirp! Of course. As any bird would. It is just..." the bird looked away.
"Just what?" his human friend asked.
"I'm shy," the bird quickly blurted, hiding his beak.
The two were not aware that they have been watched this whole time. The hooded figure covered her cackling mouth. The other was putting everything in place.
A few moments later, Aidan noticed a colorful carriage standing on a plane. The sign above said "Fortune teller" in many languages. There sat an old nag covered with a blue blanket with badly sewn stars on it.
"Who are they?" the bird chirped.
Aidan hummed. "I do not know, but it won't hurt to find out," he said, a little bit curious.