Twin Desires

You've read her poetry, now you get a chance to read a short story by our newest author; Macie Snow.  Macie has the heart of an artist and expresses it through poetry, stories and art work.  Leave a comment for Macie and let her know what you think!  This young budding artist needs all the encouragement she can get!

Copyright 2012 Macie Snow

Twin Desires

by

Macie Snow

Chapter One

I sigh as I watch my sister in the mirror.

“Don’t you ever tire of this Adrinna?” I ask.

“Tire of what, exactly?” she asks, tilting her head.

“Tire of this,” I say, sweeping my arms across the room. “Tire of life, of our role, and all its tedium. Are you not yet tired of constantly searching for a suitor? Of being a royal?”

Her eyes grow wide and she turns around to stare at me in horror, “What are you talking about?!”

“Well, we don’t DO anything. We just lounge around. We do the same thing every day. I’m sick of it.”

Adrinna rolls her eyes and goes back to primping in the mirror, “That isn’t true Katrinna. Why, just yesterday we started learning foreign etiquette.”

“That’s precisely what I mean.” I say, jolting up into a sitting position. “We start learning foreign etiquette right after we finished learning table etiquette, speech etiquette, conversational etiquette, and every other kind of etiquette!! It never changes, and it never ends! We don’t learn anything useful, or even anything new.”

“’Tis plenty useful Kat, we must present the right image, lest Mother and Father will lose their respect, and our country would fall to ruins.”

I throw my hands up and stand, turning away from the mirror, “Why do they place so much on our shoulders?! We are only nineteen!”

Adrinna turns around and points to me with the hairbrush, “Exactly, we are nineteen. We are going to have to learn to do things ourselves, starting with finding a proper suitor,” she says as she turns back to the mirror, sets her brush down and starts pinching her cheeks.

I sigh, dropping the subject. I know it is a pointless argument.

            “So do you think this guy will be the one?” I ask Adrinna, referring to the new suitor.

            “I don’t know. They’ve all been nice, but none of them have had that certain special something.”

            “I know what you mean, but soon Father will be forced to choose husbands for us.”

            “Well we don’t want that, so we had better chose someone quickly,” Adrinna says, winking at me.

            “Easy for you to say. You have countless suitors to choose from.”

            “’Tis not as simple as that Kat.” Adrinna says as she sits me down in the chair in front of the mirror to help me with my hair.  “How could I possibly choose one man? They are all so kind to me.”

            I ignore her comment, and watch in the mirror as she works her magic with my hair. In a matter of minutes, she manages to turn my tangled mess of hair into a gorgeous, complex up do.

            “Come Katrinna, everything will be fine,” Adrinna says, pulling me out of the chair, before leading me into the hallway.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

“I can’t believe this!” Adrinna screams, storming through the doors into our room.

            “Adrinna calm down!” I holler, following her into our room.

            “Calm down? Calm down! How do you expect me to calm down when he- When I- Ugh!” Adrinna picks up a pillow and, shoving her face into it, screams before collapsing onto her bed.

            “Well Adrinna, I’m sure something good can come from it” I say. “For one thing, he’s cute.”

            “Cute?! He’s gorgeous!” She groans into her pillow. “And a complete bastard!”

            “Well,” I sit next to her and rest my hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “I’m sure if you speak to Father he will reconsider.”

            “No he won’t” she wails into her pillow. “Once his mind is made up there’s no changing it! Now I’m engaged to- to- to-” She bursts into tears and buries her face into the pillow.

            “To Sir Daman.” I whisper. I lean over and hug my sister. “I’m certain it will work out somehow.”

            Adrinna’s wails of despair increase in volume.

            “Hu- How could Fath- Father do this to me-e-e?” She cries in a hiccuping voice.

            “I don’t know Adrinna, I don’t know.” I say, giving her another hug.

            I still couldn’t believe it myself. At dinner there had been suitors for both Adrinna and I present. When dinner was nearly finished, Father asked Adrinna on her choice of husband. Adrinna had happily told him that she had yet to find a suitor she intended to wed. Adrinna always loved being the center of attention, and she was going to keep her suitors fawning over her as long as possible.

            However, after revealing that she had not yet chosen a suitor, Father surprised us with an announcement. He thought Sir Daman was an excellent match, so he had arranged the engagement between Sir Daman and Adrinna. Father had also told me that I needed to find a suitor to wed soon, else he would pick someone for me as well. The only reason he had yet to do so was because I had not nearly as many suitors as Adrinna.

            I sigh, “Adrinna, everything will work out, I’m sure of it. I know not how, but there will be a way.” I give her one last hug before walking over to my bed. I brush my hair, change into my nightclothes, and climb into bed.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

I jerk up in bed, startled awake by a bloodcurdling scream. I blink the sleep out of my eyes and look around.

            “Kat he-elp!!!!” Adrinna screams. I look at her bed, but she isn’t there. I leap out of bed and frantically look around.

            I see her being drug out the window by a person cloaked in shadows.

            “Adrinna!” I scream, running towards her. I grab her arm and desperately try to drag her back into the room, but the attempts are in vain. The man, for it was indeed a man, drags Adrinna out the window; I grasp the windowsill to keep from tumbling out myself.

            “Kat! Help me!” I hear Adrinna scream, as her form, and that of her captor's fade into the shadows.

            I turn around and run to the door to our bedroom. After frantically fighting with the lock on our door, I manage to fling the door open. I run into the hallway, screaming bloody murder.

            A few people come out, most of them maids. “What is it Miss? What’s wrong?” some ask. 

            I shake my head in disbelief, “Adrinna, she’s- she’s,” I run down the hall, heedless of their questioning looks.

            I hear them behind me; one of them had obviously checked our bedroom as I hear shouts fading behind me. “Gone! Miss Adrinna is gone!”

            I run, with no idea of where I was running too. I soon find myself outside, heading through the courtyard. When I finally have to pause to catch my breath, I find myself at the stables.

            Of course! I would go save Adrinna! I find the biggest, strongest looking horse I could, and start saddling it as fast as possible.

            “Katrinna!” I turn at the sound of my name. Halfway across the courtyard was a group of people running towards me. I squint as I pull the saddle strap tight on the horse.

            Oh crap. In the group was Father, as well as his champion. The group also consisted of many other knights, and further behind the group I could see Mother, and some of her handmaidens running after her.

            I look back at the closest group as I finish saddling the black Frisian horse. The champion, Justin was Father’s best, and most trusted knight. No doubt Father was sending him to save Adrinna. In the past Father had Justin prevent me from participating in ‘unladylike’ activities, such as learning to fight. Father would never allow me to help save Adrinna, but if I didn’t go now, no one would leave until daylight.

            I climb up on the horse. He is not my horse, of course. My horse, Chasity, would stand out like a sore thumb. She is completely white, a rare color in this region. Besides that, she is not used to irregular terrain, and she could not sprint for long. The stallion I am currently riding is beautiful, with a coat black as night. He is strong and, hopefully; fast. I push my feet into the stirrups and yell.

            “Heeyah!!!” I shout, kicking my heels into the stallion’s side. He whinnies, and bolts out of the stable. I guide him out through the courtyard, towards the gates.

            “Katrinna! Stop!” Father shouts, his face red with exertion.

            I am headed straight towards his group. I yank on the reins and veer around the group, still heading towards the gate.

            “Close the gate! Close it!” Justin yells. I glance over my shoulder to see him gesturing vehemently towards the gates. I urge the horse faster. If I couldn’t make it out of the gate, Adrinna’s life would be forfeit because of me. 

            The person who had drug Adrinna out the window had cloaked his face, but I had seen the crest on his arm. The crest was that of Saludyn, one of our neighboring kingdoms. Saludynians were known for their violence. There was no time to waste; Adrinna had to be saved quickly, else something horrible would happen to her.

            With the gate closing, I urge the horse faster. The frantic shouts around me fade as I focus on the gate. The horse speeds up, seemingly knowing what I wanted. We race towards the gate as it slowly closes. I duck my head and we speed through the gate. I pull back on the reins and the black stallion comes to a halt. I glance over my shoulder and see Justin in the courtyard, face red as can be. He watches me, and I smirk at him. He turns on his heels and heads back towards Father, who had stopped in the middle of the courtyard to catch his breath. I urge the horse forward. I have to get moving, as Justin would soon be on my tail.

            I pull the reins to the left, leading the horse around the castle to the area below our bedroom window. When I reach the clearing beneath the window, I look around to get my bearings. The sun was to the left, east. I turn my horse northeast, towards the bordering kingdom of Saludyn. There was no guarantee that the kidnapper had taken Adrinna this way, but the route I had decided on was the fastest way to Saludyn from our castle.

            No matter the price, I was going to save Adrinna. I urge the black stallion into a gallop and head into the dark mass of trees towards Saludyn.