Twinchantment

by Elise Allen

She must have seen the horrified look on Flissa’s face, because she chuckled warmly. “Oh, come on now—it wasn’t their fault. They were true believers. They’d been raised to think all magic outside the hands of the Keepers was evil. They didn’t know any better. Your mother too. Honestly, I didn’t let your parents know I had any magic until you and your sister were born. Up to then I was just a nurse, and Primka just my pet. But I knew they’d be more open to it once they saw their babies were illegally magic as well.”

  Sara got that dreamy look she always had when her imagination was hard at work, and Flissa knew she was picturing the scene. Then Sara frowned. “But if Mom and Dad were so against magic—were they upset when we came out the way we did?”

  Katya’s face turned deadly serious. “Don’t you think that for an instant. Your parents loved you both instantly. They didn’t care if you were twins, or magic, or if you each had two heads—which you didn’t,” she quickly added when she saw Flissa ready to ask. “They loved you for you and always have. And the fact that you were different…it just made them appreciate that ‘different’ doesn’t have to mean ‘bad.’ And when I told them I was different too…you ask me, they were both just relieved to have someone in their circle who really understood.”

  “So, was it your idea to make us Princess Flissara?” Flissa asked.

  Katya laughed, but it sounded a little sad. “No. I thought we should announce the truth to the kingdom. Your parents have always been so beloved, and your birth was so anticipated…. I was sure it would be the perfect time to rally the people and teach them that so-called magical signs were meaningless. I thought we could show Kaloon that magic itself wasn’t always bad, even if it wasn’t in the Keepers’ hands.”

  “But Mom and Dad didn’t agree,” Sara said.

  “No.” Katya smiled ruefully. “They were afraid Kaloonians weren’t ready for that kind of revelation. Didn’t think they’d support it. No matter how beloved your family was—and is—your parents were afraid the Keepers of the Light would point to your twinhood as a true sign of magic, and illegal according to the Magic Eradication Act. They were afraid the whole family would be banished to the Twists. Or worse—that the two of you would be banished, and your parents would never see you again.”

  Katya looked off into the distance frowning a little, as if seeing the terrible alternative future the king and queen had imagined. Then she shrugged.

  “They were probably right. And given how successfully Primka and I had been hiding in plain sight all these years, they thought the same would work for you.” She smiled wide now—the kind of smile she always gave them when they’d fallen and hurt themselves badly and needed quick cheering up. The kind she gave when she was secretly worried about them. “And it did work. But now we have to get you ready for the Twists. And while there are plenty of twins there, they don’t try to be exactly like one another, so…”

  She waved her arm in a sweep across the room, taking in both Flissa and Sara. Birdsong chirped, and Flissa saw Sara’s whole outfit change! Now her sister wore sturdy brown close-cut pants, with a long-sleeved black blouse, fresh boots, and a jet-black hooded cloak that came down to her waist. Sara’s long hair was no longer knotted with twigs and grass, but plaited into two neat buns set sleekly on top of her head.

  “Sara?” Flissa said, and by the look on Sara’s face, Flissa knew she’d transformed just as dramatically.

  “Looking glass,” Katya said, waving a hand behind her. Flissa expected a mirror to conjure itself out of thin air, but this time Katya was talking about an actual mirror on her far wall. She and Sara ran to it, and Sara practically glowed. She touched her bare neck and shook her head, as if checking to see if her braided cap of hair would move. It didn’t.

  “I love this!” she gushed. “My hair won’t get caught on anything now.”

  Flissa looked at herself. She was now in black leggings, similar to her jodhpurs, tucked into the most comfortable boots she’d ever worn. On top she had a light green shirt under a deep forest-green cloak that hung down to the middle of her thighs. Her hair was braided into a single thick plait that started at the back of her neck and hung down over her right shoulder. The whole look was beautiful and comfortable, the right colors to camouflage into the wild, and the right fabrics to easily move however she wanted. It was perfect—but it made Flissa’s stomach roll.

  “We don’t match,” she said.

  “I know!” Sara agreed with far too much enthusiasm. “Because we don’t have to be each other. It’s crazy, right?”

  Tears sprang to Flissa’s eyes. Did everything have to change all at once? Yes, she and Sara had an unusual experience living as one princess, but it was also beautiful, and Flissa loved it. Now suddenly their mother was cursed and dying, their nursemaid was a powerful mage, she no longer felt positive about the Keepers or whether magic was good or bad, and the person she loved most in the world, the other half of her, her twin, was thrilled that they looked less alike.

  It was too much to take.

  The room spun. Flissa hoped it was some kind of magical travel device like the rocker, and she’d appear back in her bed, before any of this had happened.

  Then her legs crumpled under her.

  Sara didn’t see it coming. One second she and Flissa were side by side, checking out their new looks in the mirror, and then Flissa was toppling. Sara clumsily held out her hands to catch her, but she got the angle all wrong and thumped to the ground with Flissa on top. Flissa reacted like she’d been struck by lightning. She buzzed to life and leaped off Sara with almost inhuman speed. Then Flissa was the one helping her, pulling her to her feet.

  “I’m so sorry,” Flissa said. “I don’t know what happened. I was fine and then—”

  “You’re exhausted, of course,” Katya said. “Ridiculous to imagine you could stay up as long as you have and not be asleep on your feet. It’s a wonder Sara and Galric haven’t fallen down flat as well. Here.”

  She waved a hand and three cookies chirped as they drifted in from the kitchen. One wafted to each of them, Flissa, Sara, and Galric.

  “They’re all the same flavor,” Katya said with a nod to Flissa. “No need to choose.”

  Sara looked at hers. It was like a chewy gingersnap—molasses-brown, with a little give to the puffy top. “What is it?”

  “The best I can offer,” Katya said. “What you need is a good night’s sleep, but since time is of the essence, this’ll at least make you feel like you got close.”

  Galric popped his into his mouth in one giant bite. Sara shrugged and was about to do the same when Flissa stopped her.

  “Sara, wait.”

  Sara looked over and saw her sister’s upper lip beaded with sweat.

  “We don’t know what these will do,” Flissa said. She glanced at Katya, then shielded her mouth with her hand and whispered, “They’re magical cookies.”

  “I’m magic, Flissa, not deaf,” Katya said. “The cookies are not harmful. I’ve been your nurse your whole life. Have I ever given you bad advice?”

  Flissa racked her brain for a good solid instance, but Sara was already biting into the cookie. “Mmmm! It’s good—almost as good as Mitzi’s! Except, you know, magical.”

  “Thank you, Sara,” Katya said. “Now, Flissa, you can eat the cookie or not, but you’ll do your mother no good if you’re falling down on the job.”

  Flissa moved the cookie from one hand to the other so she could wipe her palms on her leggings.

  “Whoo!” Galric hooted. He hopped to his feet and bounced on his toes. “It really works! I feel great, not tired at all.”

  Both sisters ignored him. Sara stared at Flissa, who looked so frightened and uncertain. For the first time ever, it frustrated Sara. Eating the cookie should be an easy call. Katya had made it. The woman had spent a lifetime in their corner, and now here they were together with her in this wonderful, enchanted house with the dancing walls and the sounds and smells of the ocean and the clothes that appeared on thei
r bodies with a wave of her hand. It was astoundingly amazing! Whatever magic Katya had was obviously good. Why couldn’t Flissa just trust and enjoy it?

  Still, she knew what Flissa needed, and she kept her voice patient.

  “Give me the coin.”

  Flissa eagerly pulled out the locket and handed the coin inside to Sara.

  “King, you eat the cookie; queen, you don’t.”

  Flissa looked on breathlessly as Sara flipped the coin. Sara tried to catch it, but it bounced off her hand and rolled under Katya’s rocker. Sara dropped to her hands and knees and quickly crawled after it. She reached deep under the rocker and slid it close, being careful not to let it turn over on the way. When it was close enough for her to see, she pushed her face close between the rocker and the floor to peek.

  It was queen. Flissa wouldn’t eat the cookie.

  Sara reached under the rocker, and as she pulled the coin out, she flipped it with her fingers. She worried her hands would betray her and the coin would skitter across the room, but it didn’t. She placed her hand flat on the newly flipped coin and slid it out into the open, then sat back on her heels so everyone could see it as she removed her hand to reveal the face: “King.”

  It was the first time Sara had ever lied about a coin flip.

  Flissa looked relieved. “Together, then. My first bite, your second.”

  They both took huge bites of the cookie. Within seconds of swallowing, Sara felt her whole body wake up. She hadn’t even realized her feet and legs were sore until they weren’t anymore. Her eyelids felt more open, and even the frenetically cluttered room around her looked brighter and more vivid. She stood taller and took a deep breath of air that filled her whole body down to her toes.

  Flissa laughed out loud. “I feel like I could race against Balustrade and win!”

  Katya raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t recommend that, but I’m glad you have energy. You’ll need it. You’ll also need these.” She stretched a hefty arm high into the air and reached into…well, nothing as far as Sara could see, but then she heard a chirp, and when Katya clutched her hand into a fist, two tiny velvet drawstring bags—one black and one green—dangled from her closed hand. Katya handed each twin the bag that matched her cloak. The bags were no bigger than plums, each attached to a delicate, thin gold chain just the right size to drape around their waists.

  “What is this?” Flissa asked.

  “A change of clothes, for starters,” Katya said, “just in case. Plus bedrolls in case you need to stay the night, warm fur coats, hats and gloves, a toothbrush, and of course I loaded in all the supplies you had in those rucksacks.”

  Both Sara’s and Flissa’s hands whipped back to feel for the rucksacks. Neither one of them had realized they’d disappeared when Katya changed their clothes.

  Sara held the bag to eye level. It was almost like holding a flower bud. She smiled. “A magic bag. To hold everything we could possibly need.”

  “I don’t know about everything you could possibly need,” Katya admitted, “but I did my best.”

  Sara couldn’t wait to dive inside. She quickly opened it up and pushed in her hand…then her forearm. Soon she was impossibly shoulder-deep in the tiny bag, leaning this way and that as she rummaged through the inside.

  Flissa looked pale. “Stop. It looks like you’ve lost your arm. It’s horrendous!” She wheeled on their nursemaid. “Katya, that has to be dark magic.”

  “It’d only be dark magic if it actually ate her arm,” Galric said. “Sara, did it eat your arm?”

  Sara wasn’t paying attention to them. She was too amazed by all the different textures and materials she felt. There was slick and velvety, and something massive and puffy, and something small and metallic that chilled her hand. Yet anytime she tried to grab something, it slipped out of reach.

  “I can’t grab anything,” she said.

  “You have to ask for it first,” Katya said. “And you don’t need to throw your whole body into it; you could fall in entirely and someone else would have to pull you out.”

  Sara quickly stood taller, yanking her arm back out of the bag until only her wrist was inside.

  Flissa folded her arms. “See? Dark magic.”

  Sara ignored her. She scrunched her brow, concentrating hard on the item she wanted. She thought of everything they’d put in her rucksack. “Find me…Flissa’s book!”

  SMACK! The spine of the book smacked into Sara’s palm, and the pouch opened wide so she could heave it out to show everyone. It wasn’t an easy feat one-handed. The book was heavy. “Katya, this is perfect! And—ugh.” Her arm drooped under the weight of the book. “The best part is things aren’t heavy inside. But how do I get it back in?”

  “Ask,” Katya said. “Just like you asked to get it out.”

  Sara crinkled her face and held the book to the mouth of the pouch. “Um…back inside?”

  WHOOSH! The book slipped back inside the tiny pouch.

  “Wow!” Sara whooped. “This is amazing!”

  “It is more convenient than the rucksack,” Flissa reluctantly admitted. “Thank you, Katya.”

  “How about me?” Galric asked. “Don’t I get a bag?”

  “You’re lucky you don’t get a swat. The girls have enough supplies in their bags for all of you.” Katya pushed her massive girth out of her chair. “Now come here, let me look at you.”

  Galric, Sara, and Flissa obediently moved into a line in front of her, and Sara noticed Katya’s already-wide face had puffed up, and her eyes looked red and swollen. For just a moment, Sara felt like she was four years old again, and imagined how sweet it would be to curl up on Katya and fall asleep on her couch-like lap.

  “I won’t have the three of you getting hurt out there, understand? I need you to look out for each other.”

  “I’ll look after the princesses,” Galric said. He sounded so serious that Sara turned to look at him. His skin was paler than ever, and he trembled a little, but he stood tall and Sara saw his jaw clench with determination. It felt nice to know he wanted to protect them.

  Flissa snorted. “We don’t need ‘looking after,’” she said. “We’re not helpless. And remind me—which one of us pinned the other when we got out of the castle?”

  Galric blushed and his shoulders wilted. Sara felt bad for him. He hadn’t meant to insult them; he just wanted to help. They were lucky he wanted to come at all—without him they had no way to get Gilward to listen to them.

  “I’m glad you’re with us, Galric,” Sara said.

  He smiled gratefully, and Sara tried not to feel bad when Flissa gave her a hurt look Sara had never seen before. She wanted to say something to make it better, but Flissa turned back to Katya.

  “What will you tell Father?” Flissa asked. “What will you tell everyone around the palace when they see neither Princess Flissara nor the queen is present for anything on our schedules today? Will they suspect you had anything to do with our disappearance? Will you be in danger?”

  And that was the thing about Flissa, Sara thought, as she gaped at her sister in awe. Not five minutes ago Sara had been frustrated with her for being small-minded about magic and not appreciating all Katya had done, but now here Flissa was worried about the woman’s safety when the thought hadn’t even crossed Sara’s mind.

  Katya’s smile was like a hug. “Your father won’t be a problem. Between worrying about your mother and helming the search for Gilward in Kaloon, he won’t notice anything’s wrong. Whatever I tell him you’re doing he’ll believe me. As for palace rumors, those run rampant no matter what, so expect to come back to stories that Princess Flissara has run off with the princesses of Winterglen for some wild adventure or another.”

  “And the Keepers?” Sara asked, partly because she was genuinely worried and partly because she wanted Katya to know that she thought about these things too.

  “I won’t lie, they’ll get curious and start sniffing around. But I’ve been getting the better of them for a long time,
and I don’t intend to stop now. You, however, need to be especially careful. If what happened to your mother is the harbinger of a second Dark Magic Uprising, the Keepers involved—however few or many that may be—will want to make sure nothing messes up their plan. If they have any worries about Gilward’s safety in the Twists, they’ll surely come crawling about.”

  Flissa nodded. “I’ve read about that. As part of their continuing peacekeeping mission, the Keepers have to periodically visit the Twists and make sure everyone there knows who’s in charge.”

  Katya winced the tiniest bit at Flissa’s flattering description of the Keepers’ motives. She opened her mouth to speak, and Sara leaned forward eagerly. She wanted to know more. She wanted to know every reason Katya joined the Underground to fight against the Keepers. But there wasn’t time for that, not now. Instead of explaining, Katya ticked off final instructions.

  “Remember,” she said, “be vigilant. Keep your identities secret, all three of you. You never know when a Keeper will be listening. In the Twists they don’t always wear yellow robes to help you spot them. And, Galric, you’ll want to stay close to the princesses because you’ll stick out most of all.”

  “Me?” Galric asked. “Why?”

  “Because unlike the twins, you have no hint of magic in you. They pick up on that kind of thing in the Twists. It makes you an easy mark.”

  Flissa frowned. “Katya, Sara and I have no magic in us either.”

  “I disagree,” Katya said. She put a hand on each of their shoulders to stop them, then leaned down and looked at them closely, first one and then the other, back and forth. She was so close Sara could see the small white hairs on her chin. “Magic is in the very fiber of your being. It seeped into you before you were even born.”

  “But it’s not like it did anything to us,” Sara said. “You always said because there were two of us, the curse was spread too thin to hurt us.”

  “That is true…isn’t it?” Flissa said.

  “It didn’t hurt you, no. But of course there were repercussions,” Katya said gently. “Think about it. Identical twins. One girl with incredible strength of body, able to leap and climb and fight and triumph against any adversary or obstacle. And one with strength of spirit who never doubts herself and never hesitates to make a decision and go with her gut.”