"Fool! Everything else aside! What were you thinking blasting through the wall like that!" King Arthur Pendragon the III was none too happy with his son Prince Arthur Pendragon the IV "Especially with the storage tent being right in the blast zone! You know the place where they keep the people they kidnap!"

"W-W-Well, Sir I was unaware that, that was a storage tent." The Prince answered hastily, and fearfully.

"What did you think it was?" 

"Their leader's tent Sir."

"Their leader's tent?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Why ever did you think this?"

"Well Sir, I thought about it, and I thought to myself if I were a bandit leader what tent would I sleep in. The answer I came up with was, the biggest one."

The king couldn't deny that the boy had at least tried using his brain. Tried being the keyword. "Son, if the leader took the biggest tent. Where would these slavers put their prisoners?" 

The Prince took a moment to think. "The second biggest tent?" 

The King hunched forward in his throne elbows on his knees, face resting in both his palms. He peered through his fingers at his son. With deadpan eyes.

The Queen, sitting next to her husband in a thrown of her own, decided to step, before her son pushed his normally cool headed father too far, with his dimwittedness. "Moving this along. I would like to know more about the dates. Why did you think the shipment would be today?"

"I received a tip from a man at a tavern in Nottingham Village."

"Who gave you this tip Arthur?" 

"I never got his name, but I know he wore a top hat, and had a gold tooth."

The Queen knew exactly who that man was. So her son was misdirected by him. If the King reacted to this information he gave no sign, his eyes never left his dunce of a son. "I see. Moving on to the one person we did manage to save." The King's fingers gripped his face, nails threatening to draw blood. She thought this might happen, this is the one part of the report that had already sent her husband into a frenzy before they came to the royal hall, to ask their son for greater details.

The Queen needed some way to keep her husband rarely seen temper in check. She then turned her gaze to Alexis, who had been dutifully standing at attention, throughout the interrogation.

Alexis notices the Queen's gaze, worry came into her eyes. 

"Alexis my dear."

And there it was, the thing Alexis was worried about, the spotlight was now on her. 

"When did you realize that the boy was not hostile?"

"Far too late ma'am."

"That's not what I asked." The Queen said with a gentle smile. She was not going to scold the girl. The Queen was already aware that, Alexis had a habit of internalizing things that went wrong on missions. It appeared she was placing blame on herself right now. "What happened was not your fault. Now when did you realize?"

Alexis explained the events in detail.

"I see." She looked over to her husband who was no longer slouched forward with his hands on his face but instead leaning back in his chair. Arms folded across his chest. Still staring at his son. "Should that be all dear?"

The King gave this some thought. "One more thing my boy. When the girl awakens you are to inform her of what happened to her brother, and no one else! Is that clear?" His father's tone was like a growl of a grizzly bear.

Prince Arthur had never heard a tone like that exit his father's lips before. "Yes, Sir!" He squeaked out like a mouse caught by a cat.

"And if," The King continued. "I find out you embellished or understated any detail in order to save face. I will have you publicly flogged!"

"Dear!" Even the Queen was surprised by her husband's statement. 

"Don't dear me." The King snapped back at his wife. "This boy is not only responsible for the death of an innocent, but if the information he received was, in fact, correct, he could have killed many more people with all the debris that felt on top of that tent! He proved to have a total disregard for the lives of others, and I won't tolerate it!"

The Queen was still taken aback. "I see."

Loud silence fell upon the throne room. The King spoke to his son one final time. "Dismissed."

---

I awoke in a room a really, really nice room. In a bed that could only be described as a cloud. Was this heaven? I died after all Didn't I. Well, it was a short and meaningless existence, but it was mine. Just kidding, I knew full well that I was alive, so far my luck hasn't been that good.

Something was wrong though. I couldn't sense my other half. Speaking of which, what half even was I? I lifted up the bedsheets and looked down on myself. Female, got it, and here I was hoping my male half was found by some really nice rich couple who were looking for the son they never had. 

But seriously, if I was female me right now and couldn't sense male me that meant that I was still unconscious on that end, or dead. In theory, if one body died the other could live on. In theory. If I was still alive over their I was likely not in good shape. I needed to find myself, I needed to know what happened.

I climbed out of bed. Now how do I get out of here? Wherever here is. Maybe the window. Whoa no! that is high, too high up for me no, thank you! Well, I guess the door then. I heard someone talking on the other side, sound masculine. Guards? Was I a prisoner of some kind. Well, at least my captors didn't have me tied up and gagged as the last guys did. I needed a weapon.

I searched the room, nothing, dressers nothing, walk-in closet, nothing, personal bathroom, nothing, vanity, nothing. Except for a mirror. Wow was I a mess or what? I had dirt covering my body and clothes, and my mousy brown hair looked like a storm just hit. My braid normally being behind me was now in front, and most of my hair was completely loose, making the braid pointless.

My head was also bandaged around my forehead. I reached up and touched the bandage. "Hu." Maybe I have nothing to worry about. Then again the last guys tied me, gaged me, assaulted my private areas. Could I trust these people, just because they pulled me out of there? Also, it's not like they threw me in a cage. They also tried to kill other me and seeing how my only escape was a raging river, my last memory of that event being a rock slapping me in the face, they likely succeeded.

Better safe than sorry, back to weapon hunting. I'm not letting someone abuse me like that again. Never again.

I couldn't find anything all that useful as a weapon so I decided to improvise. A set of wooden chairs flanked a small circular table over in a corner of the room, just under one of the two windows that flanked the bed. I hoped to break the chairs an use the sharp points of the chair legs.

---

Alexis had met up with her identical twin sister Christine after the King had dismissed her and the Prince, who went to go sulk in his room. Leaving the two sisters to roam the halls and talk. 

"Wow, I can't believe it went that badly!" Christine said. "I knew I should have been there." 

"And what would you have done to stop our Prince?" 

 "Probably nothing you didn't already try, "Christine admitted, "but at least with two of us there, with our observational skills, at least one of us would have noticed that guy was non-hostile."

"It couldn't be helped, you had a suitor visiting." Wanting to change the subject from the failed mission Alexis added, "How did that go by the way?"

"Same as all the other pussies. I took him out in 30 seconds."

"Must you duel every suitor?  You're a marksman for god's sake! Not a brawler!"

"Hey, if a man can't beat me in a fistfight he ain't worth my time," Christine said while giving the air a mean right hook. "Yehaaa!"

"You can be so unladylike." 

Christine didn't catch that. "What you say?"

"Nothing."

Christine shrugged it off. "Anyway, where are we going?"

"Just to check up on our guest. She could wake up at any moment." 

"Ah, poor lady, losing her brother like that." 

"..." They reached the room where the young lady was resting and healing. "And here we are." Two men were stationed at the door, so that if there guest tried to leave they could keep her there, while the other informed the staff.

---

I lifted the chair. "Ok, on three. 1, 2, 3!" I swung it at the wall as hard as I could. Cra...

---

...sh

"What was that?" The twins said together.

The guards stepped back from the door and readied their weapons. 

Both twins noticed. "Wait! We'll go!"

---

Alright! "Now that I have my pointy stick its time to take over the world." Unrealistic pep talks were great when doing something you knew was stupid, but didn't feel like you had a choice in the matter.

Stupid like leaving the safety of your shack, but wait I don't have any food left! Better go find civilization. Whoopsie, civilization ties you up and humiliates you! Not to mention having my ass exposed all night was really cold!

That's right, now I'm properly pissed off! Ready to do this! 

The door began to open slowly.

---

Alexis took a point. Opening the door slowly so she didn't startle the young woman inside. "Hello? are you ok in there?"

"Yehaaaaaaaaaa!" Alexis and Christine were greeted by a wild-haired crazy lady running at them with a stick held over her head ready to strike anyone who got in the way.

However, encounters like this were what the twins were trained for. Before any spectators knew what was happening the wild woman, was on the ground with the twins on top pinning her, belly flat against the ground, hair covering her face. The stick rolled away.

"No! Get off! "The woman began to push up. Lifting the twins with her.

"Whoa, this chick strong!" Christine noted. "Who is she?"

The twins double down their efforts, repinning the crazed woman. Alexis grabbed the right arm pinning it against her back, her sister pinned the other arm. "This is our guest, I'm afraid."

"HUUU?"

One of the guards wanting to help spoke up. "Ma'am is there anything..." but was cut off by Alexis. 

"No! Consider where she was just brought from! The last thing she needs is a man's touch."

---

Or anyone's touch! "Get off! I have to, find, to know, if..."

I was going to say I needed to know if I was alive, but I couldn't. I had looked up at the people on top of me and was too stunned by what I saw. 

Two redheaded young women held me down. Both had green eyes, tan skin, the face really. I couldn't tell if they were the same hight or not, but it didn't matter my female half was an inch or two shorter than my male, but these two were the same gender, so the possibility was high that they were. The only real difference was in their clothes and hair.

One of the girl's hair was long and swept over her shoulder. The other's hair was cut short hanging just below her ears. The one with the long hair wore a bright flower pattern blouse and skirt. The one with short hair wore a plain dark colored blouse, pants, and boots.

After seeing them my struggling ceased. For a while now I had a gut feeling. One that I couldn't shake. I thought that I was a freak that people only had one body, not two. Without memory, I didn't know where this feeling came from. So just didn't think about it, doing so depressed me because it caused a lot of self-doubt. 

Was this the confirmation that I needed? Was I really not uncommon? Did I find others like me? Aside from the gender difference I also looked exactly like my other half. These two were the spitting image of each other. They had to be, but I couldn't know unless I asked "Hey, are you guys, by chance, the same person? Or something."

Their eyes went blank with confusion "Umm, no." they answered in unison. 

Wait! they just spoke at the same time! They have to be! "Are you sure?"

Short hair looked annoyed and Long hair confused. So no they were not. Otherwise, they would be feeling the same emotion right now,  I would be at least. Well shit. How depressing, I guess I am a freak after all. Well no time sulking about it, back to my great escape.

"Well, in any case, I'm glad you're finally calmed doooWWWNN!" The long haired one was so wrong. I've only begun to fight!

In my moment of calm short hair loosened her grip on my arm, and I took advantage. Pushing myself over sending long hair to her back. Short hair tried to jump on me, but my bare feet to use and kicked her away, grabbed my stick, and then ran. 

"Wait! You need to know what happened to him right! Your brother!" I wasn't looking so I didn't know which girl said that but...

She had my attention. I skidded to a stop "Brother?" The men at that camp called us brother and sister a lot. I was me of course, and to my knowledge, I didn't have siblings. If I was really a freak, like I had confirmed for me just seconds ago, then I could understand the confusion. I decided just then to play along. "What about m-" Almost said me, "My brother."

---

Finally, she was listening. Alexis let out a sigh. She did not expect the young woman to be this hysterical after she woke, it was definitely an unpleasant surprise. She also didn't expect her level of strength, sure her muscles appeared to be toned, but there was clearly more to her than met the eye.

Her sister Christine still laying on the floor, let out a grown as she caught her breath from being kicked in the gut. An impressive feat considering she beet up on her suitors, most being full-grown men. 

The young woman had turned around no longer running, but still griping her sick let her life depended on it. Her cool blue eyes wild, and looked even wilder yet with her hair half covering them. If Alexis didn't know any better she would say she was looking at a crazy person.

"Well?" The young woman asked.

Right. Alexis had been too busy catching her own breath, and the young woman was getting impatient. "If you would come back into your quarters Ms." Remembering what the King said earlier she then turned to the guards " Would you both inform the Prince that, our guest is awake."

"Prince?" The young woman asked rhetorically. 

"Both of us Ma'am?"

"Yes, both of you!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" With that, they left.

Christine had pulled herself off the floor. Pointed her finger accusingly at the young woman. "You kick really hard."

The young woman raised an eyebrow at this. "Uh, thank you?"

Alexis backed passed the doorway, gestured toward it. "Please if you would. We can all wait on the Prince together."

The young woman looked at the door like it disgusted her. "Ok, fine." She walked toward the door, only hesitating when she noticed that no one was going in before her. Once inside she tried staying as close to the door as possible, but the twins weren't allowing that. Strategically and wordlessly placing themselves, to make running that much harder for the young woman.

---

Well, at least they let me keep my stick. I wasn't going anywhere so I took a seat, in the only seat that I didn't smash.

"Would you mind telling us your name?" The long hair asked.

"My name? You want to know my name?" So do I!

Short hair rolled her eyes. "That's what she asked." Longer hair shot short hair a look. "Sorry." She didn't look sorry.

"Let's start with our names, how about that. I'm Alexis, and this is my dumber sister..."

It was short hairs turn to shoot Alexis a look. "I think you mean little sister! And only by a minute!" 

"She hates to lose," Alexis explained.  

"Grr, it wasn't a race!" She then turned to me. "Anyway, I'm Christine."

This back and forth between the sisters almost made me laugh, almost. I was still far too worried about my male half and the fact that I needed to give these girls a name.

"And your name?" Asked Alexis. 

"I um, uh, well..."

"Spit it out already!" Christine earned an elbow to the ribs from Alexis. "Ow."

"I..." Was completely unable to come up with anything on the spot. "...Don't know."

"You what now?" Asked Christine.

"Oh, Really? You can't?" Asked Alexis.

"No."

"What can you remember?" 

"Nothing before the camp, or the shack."

"The shack?"

"Its where I woke up."

The sisters looked at each other their concern obvious. 

---

"Can you excuse us for a moment?" Alexis asked.

"Um sure." Responded the young woman.

The sisters didn't go far only within the doorway. Christine spoke first. "Is she seriously telling us that she had no idea who she was before she got snatched by thoughts losers." 

"That's what it sounds like." The sister spoke in whispers as to not be heard

"What about her brother? Does that mean he was taking care of her? If he really is gone then what now?"

Alexis was rubbing her chin having a thought of her own. She turned to the young woman. "Your, brother what was his name?"

"Uh, I um, well, he didn't... have one either." The poor girl looked at the sisters with a nervous and uncertain smile.

"He didn't remember?"

"No."

"And this shack, he awoke there as well?"

"Yes."

The twins turned back to each other and their whispers. 

"Him too? How do we know that was even her brother then?" Christine was beside herself.

"Buy taking her word for it until we know more."

"Well, at least we know why she came out swinging. She running off of fight or flight instinct right now."

"Yes, and it doesn't help that her first encounter, after losing her memory, was with Imperial slave traders."

"Ugg, that's so messed up."

---

I gripped my stick with both hands. I would likely have a splinter or two if I let go and looked. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. At this moment I felt like this stick, this former chair leg, was somehow my lifeline.

Could I really trust these people? The sisters seemed genuinely concerned. 

I didn't have much time to think about that though, because, at that moment, he walked in. The bastard that attacked me. He was even still wearing his armor. Was he here to finish me off? I stood my stick at the ready. Bring it on!

The sister immediately noticed my clear, absolute, complete, you would have to be a blind person to miss, panic. "Prince Arthur, may I ask why you felt it was appropriate to wear your combat gear!?" Alexis asked looking like she wanted to beat him up as much as I did.

"Yeah, what the hell! You were in perfectly good plain clothes last I saw you!" Christine said also looking hostile. 

This (So-called) Prince Arthur became defensive. "If you must know I was on my way to do some full gear, exercises!" He took a deep breath before turning his attention to me. "If I could get the lady's name."

Oh, come on! not this again!

Alexis gave the (Not as far as I'm concerned) Prince's plated should a tap. "Maybe later." You know what maybe I can trust her.

"What do you mean!"

Christine wasn't as gentle. She grabbed Prince (asshole) Arthur by the ear and yelled. "SHE SAID LATER DUMBASS!" Christine, Alexis, you two are my only friends in the world. 

"Gaaa, you don't have to yell like that! Fine later then. Although I don't know why."

He turned his attention back to me. He explained everything. Alexis filling in many inaccuracies. Even offering how she had informed him that the large tent likely housed the abducted citizens such as myself, and the other myself. That didn't stop him, he did what he wanted without any regard for anyone else.

So It wasn't just my other self he harmed but this me as well, I had the bandages on my head to prove it.

"So I would like you to please accept my apology." 

Should I? Was he kidding? "Hell no. No way."

"PFFFF." Christine was barely holding it together. Alexis perked up an eyebrow looking thoughtful on the matter

"B-B-But Why? I said I was sorry!" 

"All of it, that's why." Maybe that was a bit oversimplified, but I wasn't sure how else to say it. "You don't deserve it."

"HAHAHAHA." Christine was gone, and even Alexis was covering her mouth to hide a smile.

"But, we saved you!" Was the Prince's only argument for why I needed to forgive him.

"I know, thank you, but I'm sorry, but I can't forgive you." 

"Is there anything I can do to make change your mind?" Pathetic he begging at this point.

"One thing."

"What?"

"Stand still."

"Ok."

With my stick in hand. I swung as hard as I could, down his head.

With that, I am sad to announce that upon coming in contact with the Prince's thick head my mighty stick broke. May it live on forever in our memories. 

"OWW, What was that!" The Prince held his head blood trickled down his forehead. The two sisters stood in stunned silence. 

"Head for a head." I pointed out the bandages on my head. 

"What does that have to do with me!?"

before I was just angry, but now I was pissed. I made a move toward the Prince (Of Morons). Christine was there in a flash to stop me. "Whoa, there girl, that's far enough."

"My Prince, maybe it is best if you leave." Suggested Alexis. 

The Prince's eyes shot daggers my way. That was fine because I was doing the same at him. "Yeah, maybe it is."

With the Prince (Of Fools) gone. I relaxed, but only a little. I looked out the window and sighed. It was almost dark, and still nothing from my other body.

The twins huddled together and more whispering ensued. They then turned my way. "We are sorry for our dense Prince's behavior." Offered Alexis.

"No, you don't have to do that."

"Yes I do, if I were any better at getting through his thick head none of this would have gone the way it did." Why was she blaming herself?

Christine appeared to be wondering the same. She rolled her eyes and changed the subject. "How about we get you cleaned up?"

"Cleaned up?"

"Yeah, you stink girl." 

"How long ago did you wake up in that shack?" Asked Alexis.

"Days ago. I lost track."

"Oh my."

"Ha, wow." Christine chimed in. "Look, we'll just step out for a bit, just leave your clothes on the bed, and get a nice shower, or bath whichever." 

After they left I did as they suggested. I didn't think I stunk. Did I? Smelled my now naked armpits. Didn't really smell like anything to me.

Awhile later. "AHHHH" this felt nice. The hot water felt amazing. If I had felt anything like this before I wish I could remember it. There were soaps and shampoo's of all kinds, but who cares, standing under the water was more than enough for me.  

I felt a kind of tickling sensation. "Oh yeah, that feels good." The tickling got stronger. No, wait, hold on, this isn't right, something else was happening. Light? Sounds? what are those? Birds, those are birds I hear and the trickling of water, but not this shower. What's going on?

The light got stronger, and I could see the riverbank. The riverbank! My other body was alive! It had washed up! I have no idea where, but somewhere. 

A feeling of great relief washed over me, it made no sense to feel this way, again, in theory, I could go on if one body died. For reasons beyond me it just didn't feel right only being one. Two just felt best, like if a crazy person walked up to you with a blade and asked if you prefer having one arm or two. Anyone sane would answer two. Then the crazy guy would like then hack off both your arms, but whatever that's not the point.

It was the same for me, two was just right. It was me. Who I was. 

Now a question remained. Now what?