"It was: The lad took one of the pieces of paper, put it in his mouth, and swallowed it. He told the king 'I have chosen my fate and let's see what is left.' When the paper that had death written on it was turned over, the boy said to the king 'I guess I chose marriage.' The king had no choice but to let the two marry." Jonn paused. "That is the answer, right?" he called out to the guard. The guard, feeling a little sympathy for them yelled back, "I'll go check and see." Jonn was right. "If only I had spoken sooner," he moaned to himself. Kari comforted him. The next day, as they were served dinner, Jonn thought, "So this is my last supper?" They were surprised that the food was not too bad. Kari had thought prisoners did not recieve food. Kari tried to make Jonn less depressed by saying, "Who knows? Maybe an afterlife would be better than this life." and "At least you won't die alone." This prompted Jonn to say, "If I had to die with somebody, Kari, it wouldn't be you. I'd rather you live on."

      "Jonn, what happened to all your jokes and being funny? If all you could remember in heaven were your last hours, wouldn't you want them to be happy ones?"

      When it was time for them to die, they slowly walked to the platform where they would spend their last moments. Kari and Jonn walked with heads held high, looking around at the panoramic view. They were at the top of a cliff with bushes around the edges. The twins took breathfuls of the warm autumn air and looked towards the setting sun. "Just like when we met except that it's autumn isn't it?" Jonn asked, reading Kari's exact thoughts. "Yes," Kari agreed.

      "Our love's beginning and end, the scene is almost identical. How ironic," Jonn thought. They were silent. The fear of death did not come for Jonn until he stepped onto the splintering board where his head was to be chopped off. Kari was simply numb with fear. "It can't be happening. It has to be a nightmare," she thought. She did not know why she was so afraid until she realized that she'd have to watch Jonn's head come off before hers would or vice versa. The thought of blood oozing, dripping out of her twin's neck was so horrifying, she shuddered.

      "Which of you shall be first?" asked the executioner gaily. The twins wrists were still bound by their anklets which had become bracelets. "Kari, if you don't mind," Jonn started. Turning to the executioner, Jonn continued, "I'd like to die with my sister."

      "Very well," the executioner replied. He summoned his apprentice who was not much older than the twins. "Chop this girl's head while I do the boy's," he ordered. The drum roll began. Kari and Jonn lay next to each other face down on the rotting platform stained with the blood of a previous victim. Jonn looked at Kari, at her smooth face, and remembered their times together. Kari was tense. Her eyes were shut tight and she was trembling. "What if the knife doesn't make it the first time around? I'll have to suffer even more," Kari thought. Jonn awaited the blow. He imagined it would hurt very bad for a split second before he entered a world of paradise.

      He waited. And waited. And waited. Still, he waited. "Why don't they get this thing over with?" he thought nervously. He looked over at Kari. She was blue from fear. Jonn looked up to see what was taking the executioner so long. He saw the executioner shouting. He saw the king grab the ax and try to chop Kari's head off with it. Instinctively, he yelled, "NO!" at the king. The king appeared as if he was deaf and continued bringing the blade down             down...                   down... It was all in slow motion. The blade came down until just before it hit her neck. The blade came to a stop. The frustrated king tried again and again but he could not kill Kari. "Stop! Spare my children," Jonn saw a woman shout. Jonn realized that he could not hear anyone shouting except this woman. It dawned on him that he and his sister were in a bubble but he could not understand why this woman was saying that she was their mother. "The pendants... they must have formed the bubble," he thought.

      "Kari. Kari!" Kari looked up at him. "Are we dead?" she asked him. "No! The pendants saved us," he replied ecstatically. The woman kept shouting until the king took notice of her. "Jaycie!" he cried. Jaycie pushed passed him and said, "Never, never ever come near my children again. Is that clear?" The king nodded and went back to the palace. To this day, no one knows why he obeyed her.

      Jaycie walked to the platform to help Veronishia and Kristopheras up.They found that the bubble had even protected them from splinters. Jonn looked at his mother and saw that she looked very much like Kari. Jonn was speechless at how his mother had known who they were. Kari stood there, also dumbfounded.

      Jaycie explained that she had come back to see her sister and to celebrate their fifteenth birthday with them. Lian had told her that they were at the palace. She had asked many people before locating them at this cliff. Jaycie had decided a few years earlier to comeback and overthrow the king by herself if need be and regretted that she had put it off for so many years. "It doesn't matter now though, for I have longed to see my children for all these years," she said to them. She was accepted by both Jonn and Kari and walked back down the cliff with them.