Excerpt: Twin Towns

“What do you think of Terion?”

The question caught Brianna by surprise, and she paused in plaiting her long blonde hair to look up at her twin, Trianna, standing by the window. She was looking out at something Brianna couldn’t see, so she walked across to the window as she tied a yellow ribbon in her hair.

Following her sister’s gaze, she saw the young man in question, helping move the benches into position in the village square. Like everyone else in the village, she had known him since she was a child, and she could easily recall a hundred facts about him.

He was kind and gentle, and always did the right thing. He’d rescued Trianna’s kitten from a tree when they were seven. He’d taken them for rides on his horse when they were thirteen, but he wouldn’t let Brianna jump over the hedge. When he’d caught them sneaking out of the house at eleven, after Brianna had spent hours convincing Trianna that it was worth the risk of being caught to watch the dancing at the midsummer bonfire, he’d marched them straight back home, explaining with a twinkle in his eye that they’d soon be old enough to join in the dancing.

“He’s OK I guess. Why?” Brianna asked.
When Trianna didn’t answer, she glanced up, and was surprised to see a blush stealing across her twins face. Trianna turned back to the dressing table to pick up a brush.
“No reason,” she said, in an attempt to be off hand. “Are you going to wear the yellow dress, because if you are, I’ll take the blue one.”

Both girls, being the exact same size, shared a wardrobe, and usually a discussion of who was to wear what was enough to start an argument that would preclude any previous conversation. But Brianna was not to be so easily distracted.

“You’re not trying to tell me you like him are you?” she asked incredulously.
“Well, we’ve been working together in the mill,” Trianna said, her tone defensive. “We had some problems with the millstones, they were out of alignment, and he’s been helping us fix them. He’s really good with his hands.”

Brianna raised an eyebrow. “Good with his hands? Tri, you should hear yourself.”
“Bri, we can’t just sit around waiting forever. I want to get married, you know, and have babies.”
“So what, you’re just going to forget about Kylis?” Brianna demanded, pain and anger lending colour to her words.
“He’s dead Bri, he’s not coming back,” Trianna said softly. “He wouldn’t have wanted us to stop living our lives.”