This is an idea I've had in my head for a LONG time, but it was all hetero back then...hehe. Anyways, this story focuses on a set of twins and their adventures in love. AU fic. RUSCAN and USUK. Fem!Canada, sorry. NO INCEST.
There once was a king who ruled over the kingdom of Acirema, his family a fair and just one. He had two children, a set of young twins, a boy and a girl. The older one, Alfred, was an outgoing and exuberant child, his pranks and friendliness making him popular with everyone at court, Alfie being held in the highest regard, his boyish innocence and charm loved by one and all. As he aged, he also became a heartthrob for all the young maidens at court, at seventeen his blond locks and bright smile, along with unique blue eyes making him irresistible. Women many years older than him had to remind themselves they were too old, and some, that they were married.
His younger sister, Matilda, was as similar to Alfred as water was to fire, the moon to the sun. She was quiet, missing many people's eyes, and she rarely spoke. She was extremely shy, and on occasion, prone to fainting. But she was beautiful in her own right, her blonde hair pulled up into a bun at all times, but strands hung down, her lavender eyes sparkling with the same glow that Alfred's had.
The twins were born on a blue moon, and as such, they were expected to be different. It was their eyes that gave it away, a glow behind them illuminating them, even in the dark of night. But that was hidden from everyone outside of the inner family circle, due to the risk that it could create distrust in the people and make it easy to pick out the twins for an attack. The way they were hidden were behind glasses, something that neither truly needed, but hid the glow.
These twins were the only children of the king and his wife, who died when the twins were twelve. The king promised to never marry again, his heart devoted to his late wife. Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before he joined her, so no one pushed the subject, seeing as he had two heirs, one being male, and both being the product of the two most powerful families in all of Acirema.
Alfred had been trained from birth to be a king, and even though he didn't act like he could handle such a task, he could be extremely serious and strategic. When it came to his duty, he would go above and beyond. He loved his country, almost as much as he loved his family. But that didn't stop him from doing what he wanted.
"Alfred, do you th-think this is ok? Or even safe?" Matilda hung onto her brother's shoulder as they snuck down a dark alley, hoods pulled over both their faces, their eyes allowing them to see, glowing dimly under their hoods.
"If you were going to chicken out, I wouldn't have let you come! It was bad enough you followed me out and almost got us caught by Vash, he'd kill us if he knew we were out here."
He loved his sister deeply, more than anyone in the world, being very protective of her, and only getting closer to her after their mother's death caused their father to somewhat forget he had children. But she was a worry wart, and he probably should have just told her he was going for a night ride by horse round the castle grounds and not 'hey, I'm sneaking out of the castle, without guards, to have some fun down in town'. Not his smartest move. But she was here with him now, and in the dark, he found her company making him feel less on edge.
He looked right and then left before grabbing her arm and racing down the brightly lit street into the crowd, not a guard in sight. It was the mid summer's festival, and all the commoners were out dancing and having a good time late into the night. Up at the castle, there had been a feast, the Ball tomorrow, Alfred and Matilda's first, her debutante state being a tad late, but with the king's withering health, it was clear he wanted to see her out in society before Alfred took over, hopefully bagging a husband in the process.
Alfred didn't want a stuffy ball, he wanted adventure, and if a night dancing away with commoners at a rowdy festival wasn't that, he wasn't sure what was. Of course, he'd made sure nothing interfered with his duties as heir apparent, and he would attend the stuffy ball tomorrow and act as any prince should, knowing how to properly dance and speak with the young women of court. That wasn't the problem.
The problem was that, at most, he viewed them simply as friends. He had no crushes, no sweethearts. He thought women looked mighty fine, but felt nothing besides an attraction to their beauty in his heart, no love. He'd told his tutor and adviser, a foreign man named Ludwig, all about it, and the man had nodded in understanding. Ludwig had the same issue, so had an overdeveloped sense of manners and protocol to make up for this, although his eyes would always linger on the head chef for a little too long, the Italian his only light.
As Alfred tugged his sister down the street, his eyes downcast, he made his way into a huge dancing area. He pulled back his hood with a smile, his sister gasping and reaching to pull it back up before eyes lingered on him for long.
"Relax, sis, they don't know what the royals look like! Now you know why I had you dress in your old play dress? You look like a commoner here, you are a commoner here." He took his cloak off and threw it aside. He then undid hers as well, getting a glare.
He told her not to be such a stick in the mud, and shoved her into the dancing circle, for a moment not remembering his sister's extreme fear of unfamiliar settings and people.
She stumbled into the crowd until she knocked into the chest of a tall, muscular man.
"Ha, my little sunflower, where did you come from?" The man had a slight accent, and Matilda had to look almost straight up to see his amused smile. She blushed, then realized she was gripping onto his arms to stay balanced, and turned even redder.
"I am extremely sorry for having troubled you, sir." Her hair was falling down around her face, her eyes glowing up at the man, whose smile turned into one of kindness.
"No problem, my little sunflower. I simply thought you wished to dance. Not many have the guts to dance with those such as me." He loved the way the girl's cheeks glowed red as her eyes, the same color as his, seemed to glow as well. She was only two years younger than he, by the looks of it, her daintiness and nervousness creating some warm feelings in the man's usually cold heart.
"I would love to, but I don't know this dance." She looked around at the other girls around her, so open and happy, so unlike the catty girls she'd left behind at the palace. They all had plain dresses, many way worse than what she wore, which was in the palace considered a monstrosity, maybe even a rag.
"This dance? This is something all girls know round here! Then again, I haven't seen you round, now have I?" His voice was silky, and she felt herself falling for the man she'd just met, who had remarked as to how he was thought to be DANGEROUS by everyone else. Right now, she found she didn't care. For once in her life, she felt noticed and beautiful by this tall, handsome, pale foreigner, his nose a little on the big and crooked side, but she found the nose...alluring.
They went through the dance, Matilda waving across the dancing circle at her brother, who was dancing excitedly with a whole circle of girls, all staring at him with admiring eyes. That wasn't that off from how he was treated at court by the girls there. Turning back to focus at the dance partner at hand, she found his hand on her waist, leading her through the steps, eventually twirling them around along with everyone else.
She danced with him a couple more times, eventually pleading fatigue, going to sit next her brother, who was enjoying a pint of ale. She hit his arm, scolding him with a look that spoke more words than she usually spoke in an evening.
"Tilly, I wasn't the one dancing for the first time with a commoner. I saw the way you were looking at him." Matilda smiled faintly, blushing. Alfred smiled behind his mug, but then froze. "Tilly, you aren't in love, are you? First man you dance with, you fall in love with! Tilly, you know you'll never be able to wed a commoner! And what if he's a criminal like I've heard from one of the girls when I pointed you out...They say Ivan Braginski fled his home country for some reason unknown, I would watch out." They looked over to where Matilda's dance partner was arguing with a pretty young woman in a language neither twin understood. Tilly's heart quivered. He already had a sweetheart...had Matilda gotten him in trouble with the girl?
Ivan finally finished his conversation with his sister, Natalya, when he realized she was glaring over his shoulder at his little sunflower, which was talking with a young, good-looking boy who must have been her twin, their appearance so uncannily similar. He gave his sister a warning before going over to the girl who'd captured his attention, asking once more for a dance.
"Tilly, last one, we have to head home after this." The boy got up and walked off after giving the girl's hand a squeeze and throwing a warning glance at the foreigner, who chuckled.
"Who was that fellow you were talking with, Tilly?"
"That was my brother, Alfie. He's off to get us some food before we go home."
"Food? And why must you go home so early, the fun has just begun!" He watched as the boy came back with two mugs, and head off to dance, trusting them not to get taken while he was gone. Fool. He also noticed his sister glaring at him by the back wall. Creepy...incestful, Natalya. He then looked down at the girl in his arms that had tears in her eyes.
"We're never going to see each other again..."
"What do you mean? I'll come visit you! What part of town do you live in..."She shook her head, the tears increasing.
"Ivan..." Where had she learned his name? Oh. Matilda probably had heard about his apparent 'criminal' actions. In truth, he'd been hiding from his sister and his birthright, but just last week she'd found him. Now, she was walking past the table with the twin's food on it, her eyes boring holes into the back of Tilly's head. Natalya was getting possessive.
"Matilda..." she gasped at her name, which he'd assumed from "Tilly". "I wish to see you again, please…" Someone who cried for him, who didn't want to leave him for once, who wasn't creepy or disturbing, as much of his past had been...
"Go to the palace, become a guard there...I...I work there, and we...um...my brother and I, this is really our only time, festival days, when we are...er...let out of the grounds. And I have to work tomorrow, so I can't come dancing." As always, her voice a whisper, but pleading. He nodded.
"Anything. Come, the music has ended; I'll take you back to your brother. Do you think you two can get back to the palace? I don't think it is wise for the two of you to travel alone..." While my sister is on the loose with anger...
"Yes, we'll be fine." She gave a small smile, the sides of her mouth turned downwards in sadness.
The twins ate quickly, but Matilda found the cup of whatever Alfred had brought her smelled awful, and refused to drink it. Alfred had looked at her in confusion.
"It is just lemonade! I had it as well, there wasn't anything wrong with it..." She still refused, so he drank it himself, only able to gulp down a couple of sips before coughing, and setting down the glass. "Damn, must be moldy lemons! I didn't think these common people had it that bad! My drink was perfectly fine! I'm glad you didn't drink it, you have your coming out tomorrow."
Ivan came over as they threw on their cloaks, saying one last goodbye, kissing Matilda's hand, and they started down the alleys once more, Alfred coughing the entire way.
"Brother, you ok?" She received no answer, Alfred collapsing on the ground. "Brother!" They were far away from the dancing, and Matilda just realized how creepy it was in the back alley. God, please be drunk!
She reached out towards her brother on the ground when a mist started to swirl around her brother, folding in around him, and pushing Matilda away. "Alfred!" What is happening!
She watched as his body started to contort, his limbs starting to bend in different directions. He let out a scream, and Matilda, who now had tears running down her face, noticed a high-heeled shoe walk out of the shadows.
Ivan was walking to a tavern, hoping to sit down with some vodka to see how he was going to go about with this 'becoming a guard' plan. He was a great fighter, sure, trained all his life, and was more than willing to quit his job as a 'farm hand' if he signed up as a guard, although he might be recognized. What scared him was how quickly he found himself falling in love with this Matilda. He looked down and realized he was holding her glove he'd taken off her hand when he'd kissed it.
He turned right around. He needed to get this back to her. Plus, he'd get to see her again…oh god…what was happening to him? He'd never felt this for anyone, and this girl, who he'd known for two hours was the only thing he could think of.
He raced down the alleys, looking all over for his new sweetheart.
She was slammed against the brick wall behind her, the hand around her throat pressing in harshly on her delicate skin. She let go a silent scream, watching her brother transforming into some creature right before her eyes. His torso elongated, hair the same color blond as on his head was sprouting all over his body, his hands morphing into paws. She struggled against the hands holding her, wanting nothing but to help her brother, to stop what was happening to him.
"You little slut." Matilda felt her hair being practically being pulled from her skull as she was forced to look into the crazy woman's eyes. This was the woman Ivan had been arguing with. "You are interfering with me and my brother. We are to get married, you know."
"H-he's your-r brother!" Oh lord, when Lilli told me about there being really crazy people out there, I believed her, but this woman, she's nuts!
"Yes, and I will get him to marry me. Or I was going to, until you came into the picture. You were the only one to catch his attention without enduring pain. He has never danced with anyone but his sisters, and I was the only one he was to ever be with. So I slipped a little potion into your hideous peasant beverage, to turn you into a beast, so you would get shot trying to run away and out of the city, and if you weren't shot, you would remain a beast forever, and you would never touch Ivan ever again!" She held a knife in the dim light that was the magic weaving around Matilda's brother, who was now screaming, the screaming turning feral, more like a roar.
"But you, you stuck up slut, you pooh-poohed the drink, not good enough for your peasant mouth, so you let the idiot you call a brother drink it. Now, which way do you want death, slow and painful, or quick and really painful?"
Ivan ran as he heard screams, the sound of some wild animal in pain…or attacking something. He ran into a small, empty road, to see an animal lying on its side, a strange white mist surrounding it, unconscious; his sister across the street, her knife to Matilda's throat, who was crying. Neither saw him come up behind them.
"You messed up my plans, do you have any idea who my brother is? He is one of the earls of Aissur! And you, some trollo—"
"Get your hands off Matilda, Natalya." Ivan grabbed the back of his sister's dress and threw her backwards. He scooped Matilda up into his arms, her hands pushing him away, tears glowing from those strange eyes of hers as she stumbled across the street, Ivan feeing the hurt of her refusal, but refusing to let it show on his face.
"Alfred! Alfr—" She stopped as she looked upon her brother. He was some huge cat-beast. She let loose a scream, and looked back at the woman with crazy eyes and now crazy hair. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" Ivan was taken aback by Matilda's yelling. Then, the sound of alarm bells ringing in the castle began. "YOU TURNED MY BROTHER INTO A-a!" Ivan watched as she went to put a hand down on the big cat's brownish mane. A pair of glowing blue eyes flew open, taking Ivan back…it was Alfred.
Alfred the cat struggled to his feet, trying to fathom why he was so heavy. He looked around at them, ending at Matilda.
Tilly, are you…TILLY! What happened? TILLY! HELLO! WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME LIKE…Alfred realized he wasn't saying words, simply roaring. Roaring? He looked down at his 'hands', but saw paws. He looked up and caught his reflection in Tilly's glasses, and saw a lion staring back, a creature he'd only read about in books on far away places. His scream roar was followed with shouting of soldiers. Tilly heard them as well.
"Run, Alfred. RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!" He didn't need to be told twice. He was gone. "Ivan, you get out of here as well! They'll charge you with all this! Hide!" Reluctantly, he listened.
The guards arrived on the scene to find a weeping girl, not knowing a nearby empty building sheltered a young Earl who'd run away from his country, and his insane sister, who was wanted back in Aissur, who'd escaped from an insane asylum when he'd stopped visiting her.
"Princess Matilda, are you all right?" Ivan stared at the girl in front of him in complete shock. "Where is Prince Alfred?" Matilda broke down into sobs.
"He's…he's gone!" She found she suddenly couldn't say what had happened to her brother. She couldn't say anything about what she had just witnessed. Two eyes that were dangerously unstable looked on with satisfaction from the abandoned building. "Magic…he's gone"
Ivan looked over at his sister. Sure, the girl had messed around with magic, part of the reason they believed she'd gone mad. That, and their mother was insane, but his younger sister had a different mother, being his half sister, and the insanity only going through the side of Natalya's mother and her family, making Natalya the bad egg, and the reason Ivan put up with her (besides the 'she's damn crazy' part).
But his sister had just turned the heir to the Acirema throne into a lion, and now he was going to have to fight to get Matilda, who probably hated him now. Now Matilda couldn't marry for love; it would have to be practical, seeing as the man who wed her became king, Ivan knew from watching his cousins, and she'd have to marry into a powerful family. And Earls from Aissur didn't become kings of Acirema.
Ivan had just helped to ruin an entire kingdom, and had just lost the first love of his life. He watched as a pair of strange blue eyes blinked once from the darkness, along with a pair of purple ones, before those eyes were gone, one for the forest and the other for the castle.
So, there you have it. And if you can figure out why I named the countries Acirema and Aissur, I will mention you next chapter. (I don't think it's that hard)...
Fun Fact: People revolted in England when they switched from the old calendar to the Gregorian, because people wanted the eleven days back they lost in the switch in 1752.