Doppelganger

Prologue

She lay in bed, chestnut brown eyes wide and unblinking, staring at the ceiling blankly.

It was another dreary morning in Melodia.

With a sigh, she kicked her silk covers onto the floor and buried her face into her pillow. She did not want to get up today.

A series of rapid knocks on her door interrupted her miniature tantrum.

Raprapraprap.

"Princess, you must let me in! Midday is drawing near and your parents grow impatient," came a distressed voice from outside. "Please my lady. I have been tasked to tend to you."

Princess Lenara Thornwood scowled into her pillow. She sat up and glared at the door.

"Alright!" She yelled. "Tell them I will be down shortly."

The maid outside tried to open the door. "My lady, please open the door." She said timidly.

With a huge exaggerated sigh, Lenara walked over and unbolted the door, allowing the maid to scurry inside quickly like a scared little mouse.

Lenara sat back down on her bed and eyed the maid haughtily.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" She demanded. "Do my hair. It's all tangled up."

The maid curtseyed and began to brush Lenara's long brown curls. With deft hands, she braided the hair into a crown around her head. From the basket she brought with her, the maid took out some freshly picked daisies and inserted them into Lenara's braids.

The princess rolled her eyes. How she hated all this fuss and bother. Gazing out the window at the blue sky, she wished for the millionth time that she wasn't royalty. How grand would life be if she could just do whatever she wanted?

"Girl," she said suddenly. "Have you ever wondered if there are other worlds out there?"

The maid paused for a second then resumed dressing the princess.

"No, my lady. I enjoy this world just fine."

Lenara rolled her eyes again. "How boring you are," she complained. "Everyone in this silly castle is boring. Boring, boring, boring. Leave me now!"

The maid gave a frightened little curtsey and scurried back out.

After making sure she was gone, Lenara ran over to the window and looked out. The sky was blue and beautiful. Birds chirping in trees and everything was disgustingly cheerful.

Apart from the Forest.

Narrowing her eyes, Lenara looked at the thick cluster of trees marking the beginning of the Forest. She had heard so many stories about it since she was a little girl, all of them warning her to stay away.

It looked dark and menacing, a sharp contrast to the cheerfulness of the castle lands. But despite the warnings, Lenara wanted to go there. In some of the stories she heard about the Forest, there was rumoured to be an old magical well in the very middle that could take you to a different world.

Of course, she had asked everybody she knew - her parents, the servants, the tutors and scholars but they all dismissed the story as a fairytale and not to be believed.

Lenara didn't care though. She was sick of her princess life. Sick of everybody whispering about how she was such a spoiled, ungrateful brat. Sick of how all the other girls fake smiled and pretended to like her. She was done with this world and she was going to find that old well one way or another.