Kinlanture Vol I: The Kingdom of Forgotten Misfits (Completed)

Chapter 21

The blade slid quickly out of Altier. He stood for a moment, trying to keep himself upright. He became overcome with pain, a blackness falling over him. He dropped to his knees before hitting the ground hard.

Standing behind him was Vartan. The bloodied blade resting carelessly in his hand.

No one could react. They were all stunned. Gale dropped to the ground, tears dripping out of his eyes crazily. Jerik shook himself out of the shock and ran to Altier's side, scrapping his knees as he skidded across the ground to get to him.

"Useless. Utterly and completely useless" Vartan wiped Altier's blood off of his blade with his finger, rubbing the blood between each finger.

Aden stood shaking. Vartan? This was Vartan? It had to be. The man looked just like Aden. But how? Aden had never actually seen Vartan as he was an extension of him. He looked down at his body. He was there, but so was Vartan. How was that possible?

Jerik helped Gale pull Altier away from Vartan. He let them, watching them take away that excuse of a man out of his sight.

"I suppose you are all wondering what exactly is going on here. Especially you" Vartan looked at Aden.

Aden was breathing heavily. His mind was flashing over and over again, rushing through thought after thought. He was confused. He was not able to understand what was happening. Was this really happening? What the hell was going on?

"Isn't it fascinating how I made you forget me, how I was able to take over your body" Vartan said with a smile, his eyes locked onto Aden.

Altier's eyes were fluttering, fighting off the pain he was feeling. He was trying to hold on. He held a hand tightly over his wound. Blood continued to flow out of it. The pressure was not enough to hold it back.

"Why?" Claire spoke up.

Vartan turned to face her. This was the man she had been told over and over again that she was in love with before losing her memory. This was the man she had seen in her dreams multiple times before ending up back in this world. This was a man that was a prince. A very well respected, well-loved prince among his people. Why?

"I guess you do deserve an explanation. See, Aden over here, is my dear twin brother. Identical twin, if that was not obvious" Vartan explained as he pointed his blade at Aden.

"Our mother, sweet mother queen of the Flower Kingdom, was a whore. She had an affair with a man from the Star Kingdom. Our father, like everyone else was oblivious to this. They had been trying to have children but were having no luck. She became pregnant but being as she was sleeping with two men, she was not sure who the father was.

"Luckily for her, one of her boys came out pure. Dear little Aden, a pure flower. The problem arose with me. My father did not suspect infidelity. The second child being mixed this was obviously some kind of genetic freak coincidence. Yet, here I was.

"I grew up hidden in the palace. I trained every day. I learned every single thing I could about royalty, manners, proper etiquette. I thought maybe since I was a prince too that if I was better at it than Aden that I would get the throne. Maybe then my parents would not shun me and keep me locked away."

Twins? Aden gripped his sword tight, feeling a rush of emotion. All this time he thought he was just a placeholder. He was not a real person. He was a figment, Vartan being locked away like Claire and Selina because of some past indiscretion. In reality, he was a prince. He was one of the heirs to the Flower throne. He was royalty.

"Then came the day," Vartan continued on, "that Aden was introduced to the Flower princess. I watched from the shadow, clearly unable to partake in this event. That was the day I first saw Claire. She was beautiful. I quickly became infatuated with her. Every time she was at the palace I admired her from afar.