I may or may not continue this. Thoughts?
Jim sat, shivering, on the steps of a house in a village far from the one they grew up in.
His brother Luca was turning nine in three days. He was fourteen now, old enough for a job, but no one wanted a dirty street urchin. A carriage came up in front of the house he was sitting in front of, and an older man stepped out, cigar between chapped lips. He caught sight of Jim and lashed out, making Jim flinch away. "Now, now," a woman said.
She climbed from the carriage after the man, curly blonde hair pulled back away from her face in a style that matched the frills on her dress. Jim wondered distantly what kind of nobles would come to a dirty town like this, but the answer became clear when the man grabbed a box of opium and shoved it into his coat. Several more made their way into the carriage while the woman stared at him.
Jim stared back at her, confused. She looked away and whispered something in her husband's ear, making him pause. A rustle in the bushes next to Jim alerted Jim to the return of Luca. He reached for his brother's hand, a sign they had organized many years ago to mean, "keep quiet". The woman knelt in front of Jim, and reach out to touch him. Despite himself, he flinched, and she stopped, looking sad and hurt. He regretted his reflex, but many years of abuse had ingrained within him the instinct that any adult who reached for him was going to hurt him.
She kept her arm outstretched, but didn't move again. He reached for her hand with his empty one and moved her hand to his face. She cupped his cheek, suddenly looking much happier. "Are you my Alois?" she whispered, and some part of him instantly saw a new way to a home and food.
Feeling hopeful but weary, he allowed, "So they've said."
She moved very quickly. One second later, Jim found himself scooped into her arms, kisses being frantically pressed to his face and hair. He went still, arms limp by his side, shocked. She pulled away and ran her fingers through his hair, looking thrilled.
"Alois, Alois, Alois…" she whispered over and over, while Jim's mind worked frantically. This woman must believe he was her missing son or something. If he played it right, he could become her missing son. "We'll bring you back to the manor and get you cleaned up and back into your rooms, and then we'll announce your return to the Queen and the others in her favor… Oh, I love you so much."
He patted her back awkwardly while her husband watched on, his expression unreadable. He could feel Luca's eyes boring into his back and wished, rather spitefully, that the boy were out here, too. She pulled away, and he sagged with relief. "Who are you?" he asked, and then he regretted it when her eyes darkened.
"Of course you wouldn't remember, darling, you were just a baby when you disappeared," he inwardly rejoiced when he heard that, "But I am your mother, Catherine Trancy, and this," she gestured to her husband, "is Robert Trancy, head of the house."
Jim nodded, fitting the names around his mind. He's heard about the Trancy family before. When he and Luca had traveled to London briefly a few months ago, they had been the talk of the people. Apparently, in her grief over her missing child, the Countess Trancy had tried to commit suicide. Her maid found her before she could bleed out. Jim was suddenly very grateful to the maid.
"Pleasure," he muttered. She beamed at him.
"Is there anything you want to take with you, dearest?" she asked, and he pointed to the bush. She stared at, evidently confused.
"Luca," he called, and the small red-haired boy crawled out, playing his part as the pathetic, sickly child with ease. Jim was very proud of his brother.
Countess Trancy- mother, he reminded himself firmly- smiled, and nodded, while her husband huffed in obvious annoyance. "Get in the carriage, all of you," he snapped, "Before we're seen."
Mother scooped Jim- Alois, now- into her arms and grabbed a hold of Luca, sweeping them both into her arms. She settled them next to her inside the carriage, messing with their hair and cooing over Luca.
…
Three hours later, he and Luca we sitting on a large bed in a room more extravagant than anything either of them had ever seen. They wore pajamas of the finest silk, over skin that was cleaner than they'd ever been. Luca giggled in delight and hugged his brother tightly, while the blond whispered, "You know what this means, right, Luca?"
"I don't care," Luca insisted, releasing his brother and falling back into the pillows.
"You need to care," came the sharp response. Luca sat up quickly, knowing that tone meant business. "It means that we're nobles now. No more stealing. It means that I am Alois Trancy and you are Luca Trancy for the rest of our lives. Jim and Luca Macken are dead, do you understand?"
Luca nodded frantically and bowed, "Yes, Your Highness!"
Alois smirked. "Good. Sleep now. Though we won't be stealing, we will be lying. Eventually, the Trancy names will be so ingrained within us that it will become the truth, and then, and only then, will we have gotten away with this. Forget the past. It is over."
An answering smirk rose to Luca's lips. "Yes, Your Highness," he vowed.
