Miranda's POV

The sound of our horses was muffled by my thoughts. 'Why would father send us here if he knew it was dangerous?' My brother halted. I stopped. "What is it?" I asked.

"I think we should stop here for the night. It's getting dark." He answered. I looked at the sky. It was nearly dusk.

"Good idea, we should get off here." I agreed. We got off our horses. "Where are we anyway?" I asked.

"Well, we are in Xclusian territory is all I know." he replied. He turned. "Shhhhhh... Someone's nearby." I waited. And I felt a strange presence as well. He turned again. "I know where you are," he said, "So jut get out of there and we can deal with this quickly and peacefully."

"Peacefully?" a voice broke in, "Since when did Zucrandians know anything about peace?"

"What?" I asked, "What do you mean by that? We're just kids raised in a secluded fortress where no news comes in."

"It doesn't matter" say the voice. I hear a whizzing sound and see a dart hit my brother's arm.

"Ow... What is this stuff?" he says as he winces in pain. He collapses on the ground. I hear another whizzing sound but I dodge it. My brother was hit by a sleeping dart. I'm not as easy to hit. I have a keen sense of hearing and sight. I dodge the next several darts long enough so that I can pull out the Dulband. It looks like a sword with a hooked blade. I feel a strange aura coming out of it and I force all of my might into a throw that knocks two guys down and comes back to me. 

As I continue to pick these thugs off, I feel a thud in my back. Darn it, They hit me. I wince and collapse to the ground. As my consciousness fades, I hear the men talk to each other. When all of a sudden, a woman says, "I'll take care of these children." And with that, I fall into a slumber. 

When I woke up, I was tied and bound to a chair next to my brother. "Hello sleepy head. I noticed you aren't having those nightmares anymore." he smirks.

"Thats only because I was put to sleep." I rebutted, "Where are we anyway?"

"In some sort of house,"  he replied. The woman from before came in. She pulled up a chair and sat down.

It was a while before she said "What are a young couple from Zucrandar doing in Xclusia?" 'Wait, so no torture?' I thought.

"We aren't a couple," I said, " We're twins and we were sent to scout a fort for some r-"

"Thats nice. How old?" she inquired.

"We are eighteen." Mark answered, "But how is that relav-"

"I now know what to do. Well, I already did it, I just needed to make sure of it." she said.

"What?" I asked. She signaled her servant, who brought in a man, dressed in a samurai's outfit, and wore a face plate. He walked in front of us and studied our faces. He started to smile.

"It's them all right," he said, "Mother will be so happy." he hugged us.

"Do we know you?" Mark asked.

"So it's true about my father's spell," he said, "Nonetheless, I am so happy to have found you finally. My name is Peter, and I am part of your true family in Xclusia."