Alice stood at the foot of the bed staring at this girl. Who was she? She had just said she wasn't Tarrant, but his sister. Her head spinning, Alice plopped back down on the bed and sighed. What could it hurt? For all she knew this was a crazy fever dream. She laid back and looked at Tarra upside down, just like she felt everything was.

"Go on. Explain everything, please." Alice said sighing again.

"From the begging?" Tarra said through her huge grin.

"Yes from the begging." Alice said as she put her hand over her eyes.

"Well. First off I'm a twin. It was me and my brother, Tarrant. My mother thought she was so clever naming us Tarra and Tarrant. In the end it actually hurt us. Tarrant wasn't exactly the most boyish, so they called him Tarra. And I was such a tomboy, so I got Tarrant. It was horrible up until we both turned 13. We both blossomed. Tarrant grew a foot a day it seemed and I got much more, um, shapely. Soon Tarrant got a job being the town hatter and I was the seamstress. We worked together all day; Tarrant was truly my best friend. He helped me deal with all the boys that had once teased me, now wanting to court me. I helped him go through the many dates he had to endure on our mother's prompting. Life was good.

"When we were 17, Tarrant was called to the White Queen's castle to make a few hats for her. The whole town was so excited, especially Tarrant. I made him a fancy new suit and sent him off first thing in the morning. He came back later that night with a funny look in his eyes. He went straight into his work shop and started to work. Mother wouldn't let me go talk to him so later that night I snuck out to see him. He was sitting at his work desk working furiously. I sat next to him for a little while marveling at all the beautiful hats that he had already made. Finally he looked up at me and I knew. He was in love with the White Queen.

"Mirana loves you?" Alice exclaimed.

"No, dearest. But I'll get to that later." Tarra said to Alice, who had rolled over on her stomach and propped her head up on her arms now interested.

"Well, the next time he went back with all the hats, he didn't come back for a few days. Everyone was worried, except me. I knew the two were frolicking in thier love for one another. When he did finally come back I knew their love for on another was completely cemented. All I could do was smile when our mother scolded him and he just sat there and listened. Now nothing seemed to faze him, all of the boring dates mother made him go on still didn't put a damper on his mood. And every time he went to the castle he spent a few days with Mirana. This love affair went on for about a year before Mirana came to our village.

"There was a huge festival and when Mirana rode in Tarrant was by her side. They both looked at each other with so much love in their eyes. This had sealed the deal. I knew Tarrant was going to go through with it. The day before Tarrant had told me that he planned to propose to Mirana. The day had just begun and everything was running smoothly. The children were running around playing, the men and women were all relaxing and laughing. Life was good in that moment. This was the way life was going to be from now on, since my brother was marrying into royalty. All I could do was smile and know everything was perfect." Tarra looked up at the ceiling deep in thought, with a smile on her face.

"The sun was about to set and the night party was going to start when my brother called everyone's attention. Everyone gathered around Tarrant and Mirana. Tarrant gave his little speech about how he never thought he would meet the lovely White Queen, let alone fall in love with her. The whole crowd gave a huge 'awe' and Tarrant got down on one knee in front of Mirana. Before he could ask her anything, his lovely green eyes grew bright red and he stood up. He ordered Mirana on her horse and as soon as she mounted, a blood curdling scream rang out. A hoard of Red Card Soldiers came running into town.

"Tarrant smacked Mirana's horse making it gallop away at full speed. Tarrant then began running against the crowd to get to try and fight the soldiers. He got a few of them but they all attacked him at once and he was down. I screamed and started to run towards him when one of the men in the town grabbed me. He dragged me behind a tree and clamped his hand over my mouth. We waited till the soldiers passed by us and ran a little further into the woods. He threw me to the ground and looked back to make sure no one was following. He turned back to me and started to undress." Tarra's breath hitched and she wiped away a little tear that had fallen on her cheek. Alice reached out and rubbed her knee, trying to comfort the poor girl.

"I started to sob and ask him not to hurt me please. He stopped and told me to shut my stupid mouth; he wasn't going to hurt me. He told me that the Red Queen ordered every woman and child killed. Only the men were to be taken and used as slaves in the castle. He told me to put his clothes on and run. Run as far away as possible. Quickly I got up and grabbed his clothes and slipped into them. He stood in front of me in just his underclothes, but I couldn't help but hug him. This man was saving my life. I could hear the soldiers running towards us and he pushed me away and told me to run.

"What did you do?" Alice asked her eyes wide in amazement.

"All I could do, I ran. I ran till my legs gave out under me. I collapsed under a tree and slept only for a few hours. When I woke up I was so tired and hungry and cold.