I could only stare at my “father” & fume. I almost burst into a screaming barrage, but someone harshly gagged me.
“Fine,” he continued, looking at the twins. “I will choose for you.” He paused, his eyes trailing between the frightened siblings & that lethal point in his left hand. “Ezra,” he said finally in an almost-avuncular tone that made me cringe. Ezra held Lily by the shoulders, nodded to her, & stepped forward.
“You are the eldest of your pair, are you not?” Lex (I couldn’t call him “father” anymore) asked in a sickly-sweet tone.
“I am, but why should that matter?” Ezra responded evenly.
“You’re right, why should it?”
They struck.
He tried to plunge the needle into Ezra’s strong forearm, but he held off his uncle’s wrist. The wrestled for a few nerve-wracking minutes, eyes ever vigilantly watching that point of death.

What am I doing? I thought. Am I actually sympathizing with my sworn enemy? The ones I always believed to be traitors and obstacles? Was I going against my people?