The Doppelganger

I woke up to someone wrapping my stomach with some bandages. I blinked my eyes open.
I could tell I was in the palace again. Two women were working on my body and I groaned at the pain in my neck.

“You’ll be okay,” Christine whispered and I looked at her tiredly. “Although, once you’re cleaned up, I’ve been ordered to take you to the tea room.”

“Okay,” I slurred.

They put a loose dress on me and Andrei came in once I was decent. He helped me walk and I leaned into him.

“Thank you,” he said in a quiet voice. “You saved her.”

I didn’t know what to say so I just nodded. I winced as I walked and put my free hand on my stomach. I didn’t expect it to hurt as much as it did. It was worth it, though. As long as Nicoletta was okay.

The door to the tea room was shut but I could hear raised voices. Andrei sighed and opened it. The king was red in the face as he shouted at an old man I recognized as the mill owner. I only met him once and that’s when he agreed to take me on. He was glaring at the king, his arms crossed.

“You get your sorry ass out of here, Constantin!” the king roared. “You’re not welcome here!”

“Reyna!” Nicoletta sobbed and she pushed Andrei to the side as she hugged me. “Oh, I was so scared!”

“Are you all right?” we asked in unison and laughed, wiping our tears away.

“I’m fine,” we said in unison again.

“We’re sisters,” Reyna said, grabbing my hand and I felt tears in my eyes. “I know it. I don’t know how I do, but I know it.”

“Of course you do,” the old man, Constantin, said. “You’re twins.”

“How do you know?” I asked and he sighed.

“Because I am your father.”

If Nicoletta wasn’t helping me stand, I would have fallen over. We looked at each other then back at the man.

“Sit down,” the queen said, ushering us to the couch. The king stood at the window, shaking with anger. “Do you want me to start, Constantin?”

“No,” he said with a sigh. “I will.”

He sat down on the table right in front of us. Andrei and Malachi stood behind us and I gripped Nicoletta’s hands tightly.

“It all started 21 years ago,” he muttered.

“Just go,” Clara sobbed. “Go. Take them with you.”

Constantin shook his head. “No. I’m not leaving you.”

“If you don’t, they’ll find you,” she gasped and coughed, blood spilling down her chin. Constantin let out a dry sob. “Please, Constantin. Go. Raise them well. Tell them about me.”

He sobbed more and kissed her. “I love you.”

“I love you,” she managed then the light left her eyes.

He sobbed over her body but his two newborn daughters were screaming in his arms. They’d find him soon. The castle shook around them and he stood up. His legs felt like lead as he went through the secret passage. As soon as he walked out, the castle collapsed in on itself; collapsed onto Clara.

He could barely see through the rain and his tears of grief. He entered the forest and used his shoulders to wipe his tears so that he could see. He didn’t want to trip over roots and hurt the girls.

He traveled without stopping for several hours. But the girls were getting hungry. Their screams reached another octave and he heard someone walking through the trees toward him. He stumbled to a stop, his heart racing. He was exhausted and wouldn’t be able to fight.

But it was a young woman and her jaw dropped.

“Are you all right?” she asked, running to him as he fell to his knees. “Oh, what happened to you!?”

“Please,” he gasped. “You have to help me. I can’t let anything happen to them. Th-They’re hungry and-”

“Give me one of them,” she said without a second thought and he sobbed in relief as she turned her back to hide her moving her dress.

Constantin held his other daughter to his chest, sobbing into the little bit of hair she had.

“What is your name?” she asked as she fed his second daughter.

“C-Constantin,” he answered, having to lean on a tree trunk to keep from passing out. “These are my babies, Reyna and Nicoletta.”

“What happened?” she asked. “You’re covered in blood.”

He started to cry again. “We broke so many laws,” he said. “But we loved each other, madam! I was poor and she was the princess. Then the people found out about her pregnancy. She’s dead.”

He let out a howl of pain and she cried for him. She got on the forest floor and rubbed his arm in comfort.

“They’ll be looking for me,” he gasped. “I have to go. But I don’t know what to do about my daughters.”

“Leave them with me,” she said. “I will take care of them.”

He shook his head. “They can’t stay together,” he sobbed. “Oh, the poor girls! If they stay together, then they’ll be found!”

“How do you know?” she asked but a man came up behind her.

“Louise?” he asked. “What the hell are you doing with that man?”

“He’s hurting, Jacobi,” she said, standing with Nicoletta still in her arms. “We have to help him.”

Exhaustion was getting the better of him as Jacobi stared at him in disgust.

“He’s running from someone, isn’t he?” he demanded.

“I-I don’t really know but we have to help him,” Louise pressed. “Please.”

“My daughters,” Constantin gasped. “Save my daughters.”

Jacobi looked disgusted. “We already have a son. We don’t need any more.”

“Just one then,” he begged. “I-I’ll find a place for Reyna. I will come back for them once they’re safe. Please!”

Jacobi scoffed. “Fine. Just one.”

Louise gave him a cloak and told him how to get to the nearest orphanage. Sobbing and hating himself for what he was about to do, he put her down and knocked frantically on the door. He hid in the shadows until the door opened and he saw her go in.

Nicoletta and I were both sobbing and the queen was crying quietly. As for Constantin, they almost didn’t understand the end of the story because he was crying into his hands.

"The story you told me," I said to the queen and she looked at me sadly. "It was true, wasn't it?"

She nodded.

“Pathetic,” the king spat but no one paid him any attention.

“I found you when you were sixteen,” Constantin said to me. “But-But you didn’t know about me. I was foolish. I had thought you would ask around about your parents and the clues would point you to the palace. So, I took you on at the mill with the hopes that I’d be able to tell you one day. I saw you meet Nicoletta and knew that it was only a matter of time.”

“I don’t understand,” I whispered. “Why couldn’t we be together?”

“Not only was your mother a princess, she was a witch,” he sighed and Jacobi made a hiss of anger. Constantin glared at him; he was truly frightening. “You two have inherited her powers but it’s not what the legends say. Our love was forbidden so, when we had you, your power was intensified. Love; it’s a powerful thing. By being united, you pose a threat to those who have been hunting the three of us for the last 21 years.”

“Who are they, though?” I asked.

“Me,” the king snapped and Nicoletta shrank into me. I swallowed thickly. “But my wretched wife convinced me to wait until he came back for the bastard child.”

“Watch your tongue!” Constantin roared, jumping to his feet. “I will not have you speak of my daughter in such a way!”

It was obvious the king was afraid of him for he stopped talking.

“Why didn’t you come get us then?” Nicoletta asked, wiping at her nose.

“I tried,” he said, glaring at the king again. “He wouldn’t let you go. Your father is a cruel bastard and I’m taking my daughters back tonight.”

“No you’re not!” he shouted, drawing his sword. “I need the magic they have to save my kingdom!”

“Enough!” Louise cried, standing between the two men. “Enough of this foolishness! Put it away, Jacobi. Now!” she snapped when he didn’t move. He did so with an angry scowl. “Here is everything simplified, girls: You are dangerous to those who oppose you. You both have magic and, when put together, you can level kingdoms. When your father tried to get Nicoletta and Jacobi turned him away, he knew that he couldn’t tell you yet, Reyna. Everything had to happen to where everyone was safe. But it would seem that our kingdom is not as peaceful as I thought it was.”

Her glare was on her husband again and he looked out the window, crossing his arms. He looked like a child.

“We’re still alive,” he grumbled.

“Only because of Nicoletta and Reyna!” she snapped. “Nicoletta told me what she’s witnessed! How could you, Jacobi!? You sacrificed them for us?”

The king didn’t answer so the queen slapped him. We all gasped and he looked like her slap had struck him dumb. The queen sighed and looked at the two of us.

“What’s important is that you two have found each other. What happens next all depends on what you want.”

“When did you know I wasn’t Nicoletta?” I asked, sniffling.

“The second you came out from the dress stall,” she answered. “I knew what you two had done and thought there was no harm in it. I didn’t know about the Kensington brothers.”

“So what now?” I asked after some silence.

“It’s up to you,” the queen answered.