Charlie the Counter-part?

<<Francine>>

"Tell me, brother. What plans are you speaking of?" I asked him but all he did was gripping my wrist and making me run behind him to God-knew-where.

"You shall see."

After a forever exhausting running, we finally arrived at the place he was talking about. I bend down to grab my knees and panted.

"Where *pant* on *pant* the universe are we?"

It seemed like a secret room, I could not make out the interior designs of the room as it was dark. Once Samuel switched on the lights could I see where we were. The room was one of the secret rooms in the palace. There weren't any windows or doors other than the one we came in by. Just a small ventilating system in the top right corner.

Just like secret dungeons.

With their secret passages.

Right at the center was a desk - a computer placed on it and chairs on either side of the desk.

"Welcome to my personal-what do you call these sorts of places?" He looked down at me. I was still staring at my surroundings.

"Sorry?"

"What do you call this place? HQ? Secret Service? Command center? Lair?" He suggested.

I looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. "Do we even require this place in the future?"

He shrugged. "We might."

"Then The Lair it is."

He smiled, walking to the desk and placing himself in front of the computer. I followed on his heels and placed myself at the opposite end. He furiously typed in something on the computer and a few minutes later it beeped.

"Why are we here, brother?"

He grinned, the hint of mischief flashing in his eyes. "How do you feel about-" He leaned closer, his voice low and husky. "-fleeing?"

Fleeing?

As in saying goodbye to everything and everyone?

I could feel the color draining from my face. "F-Fleeing?"

"Yes, I suppose you heard me correctly the first time." He leaned back on his chair.

I stood up from my chair abruptly, my blood boiling. "So that you could crown King and prove that you are worthy of the title and not me!"

His eyes widened and he seemed taken aback by my sudden outburst. He quickly stood up, raised his arms in a surrendering fashion.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, that is clearly not what I meant. You didn't let me finish."

"You stopped at the word 'fleeing'. How was I supposed to know if you were done speaking, brother?" I accused him.

He sighed. "You are a ticking-time-bomb, nowadays."

"What is that-"

He raised a hand and cut my speech off. "Let me finish, Liz. I shall make you understand the motive behind using the word fleeing and bringing you here." He motioned towards the chair.

"But first, have a seat."

I quietly obeyed and took a seat in the chair opposite the desk, he followed quickly. He took a deep breath before starting.

"So, as I mentioned before, I had a plan-"

"We know that." I interrupted.

He crossed his arms. "Liz, shut your mouth and listen. If you interrupt me one more time, you shall have a truly different meaning from what the context is about - like me wanting to be King and hence plotting to kick you out of the picture."

I gasped. "You are speaking so harshly, brother! You do not speak like that! What sort of a language is 'kick me out'?"

He shook his head in disbelief. "You and your formalities."

"What is that-"

He raised his rand, cutting me off for the second time in a row. I quickly shut down and allowed him to clarify himself.

"Good. Now, as I was saying I had a plan and that involved you fleeing but that doesn't mean anyone should realize you fled."

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

He continued. "What I mean is, we could make you switch places with a look-alike of yours who will pretend to be the Crowned Princess for a year while you take their place and live a normal life as you've always wanted. Moreover, when the time comes for you to claim your place as the Queen of this marvelous kingdom, you two shall switch back."

I gave his words a thought. If I were to flee then everyone would know and I would become a disgrace to the family. However, I did not want to flee. I just wanted to run away for a certain period of time to live like an ordinary individual. I would come back, eventually to claim my place.

So, if no one realized I was missing, it would be easier for me. No one would track me down if they didn't realize I was missing in the first place! That was a great plan!

But who would that look-alike of mine be?

Even if there was a look-alike.

Will they agree?

"So what do you think?" He inquired, crossing his legs on the table.

"That is rude - please place your legs underneath the table." I pointed to his crossed legs.

He sighed but obeyed me anyways.

I continued. "As for your idea, I think it is great but who takes my place?"

He grinned, excitement flashing in his eyes. He requested me to come and see for myself. I made my way to his computer and bent to take a good look at the picture. The picture was of a young lady who looked exactly like me - same facial structures, same striking sea-green eyes, same everything.

There was only one difference.

She seemed like the boyish version of me.

Tomboy was the word perhaps?

"Francine Elizabeth Maxwell, meet your counterpart, Charlotte 'Charlie' Robinson."