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Where are you?
But as soon as he sent it, there was a tinkling sound. Niko’s phone was sitting on his desk under a folder, completely useless.
This felt like a bad sign, but Xander tried to stay calm. There was a good chance his brother was just exercising or in the kitchen eating breakfast. Maybe he’d even met up with some of the other groomsmen. Just in case, Xander sent a quick text to their group chat, but the answers rolled in quickly, and all of them confirmed that no one had seen him.
His worry growing, Xander hurried down to the gym, then the kitchen, then the library, then the football field, then the path along the ocean where Niko sometimes jogged. He wasn’t anywhere to be found. There was a chance he’d just wandered somewhere else, but Xander got the feeling that something was really wrong here. Niko was fastidious and punctual. His days were planned to a tee — they had to be, to fit in all of the duties that came with being the oldest prince in a country like Aenicea. Niko never disappeared without telling anyone where he was. Never.
Xander sank onto a bench beside the ocean path. He wasn’t sure what to do. There was still a chance that Niko was somewhere, sleeping off a hangover in an armchair in the corner of the library or with one of his friends. Or he might be up, somewhere in the palace that Xander hadn’t checked — and without his phone.
If Xander texted his parents, which he probably should, it would bring a lot of trouble crashing down on Niko’s head. Maybe it was better to wait, at least a little longer, to see if Niko turned up. And in the meantime, Xander could keep searching. He’d probably find his brother somewhere.
Wouldn’t he?
As Xander hurried back into the palace with a new list of places to search growing in his mind, he ran into the groomsmen. They had gathered for a late breakfast on a terrace overlooking the ocean.
“Xander!” one of their school friends, Jason, called. Xander crossed the terrace to join them. “Have you found Niko yet?”
Xander hesitated. More people looking for his brother would be a good thing, but any alarm would bring trouble for Niko, and he wasn’t sure all these men could keep the missing groom secret.
“Yes,” Xander lied. “But something’s come up. The, um, the wedding tie is missing.”
“Really?” Jason looked skeptical. “I didn’t know there was a specific tie.”
“Oh, yes,” Xander lied. “It’s traditional. All the men in our family marry wearing it. Niko is up in arms. Could you help us look?”
“Of course.” The groomsmen got to their feet, their breakfasts forgotten.
“If you see Niko, tell him to find me,” Xander continued. “He forgot his phone and went to find the tie in a hurry.”
“Will do. What does it look like?”
“Um. It’s blue. With silver stars.” Niko would never be caught dead in a tie like that, so Xander had to hope the groomsmen wouldn’t somehow find one before Xander could find his brother.
There. That was settled, at least. The groomsmen would be distracted by a search for a missing (fictional) tie and would keep their eyes out for Niko. And Xander could continue searching in peace.
Two hours later, though, Xander had to admit defeat. The wedding was starting in fifteen minutes and he hadn’t spotted Niko anywhere. He made a last desperate dash for the staging room — maybe, somehow, Niko was there, getting ready — but Niko was, once again, nowhere to be found.
Xander was going to have to tell his parents that the groom was missing. And worse, he’d have to tell Maisy that he’d lost her future husband. Xander’s chest tightened at the thought of poor Maisy, ready for her wedding day, only to be stood up by a probably drunk and incapacitated Niko.
Was it possible that Niko was skipping the wedding on purpose? Xander thought back to Niko’s waffling the night before, but his brother had seemed convinced in the end to do his duty. And even if Niko had decided not to marry Maisy, he surely would have been man enough to tell her himself instead of just not showing up.
No. Niko must have just fallen asleep somewhere, full of whiskey. When he woke and found that he’d missed his wedding, he would feel terrible. But at that point the damage, both to Niko’s reputation and to his relationship with Maisy, would already be done.
Then Xander saw it. In the corner of the room hung Niko’s wedding suit, freshly pressed and ready to be worn. Xander turned to look in the mirror. He looked just like Niko — so much so that even their parents struggled to tell them apart sometimes. It was only when one of them opened their mouths that their differences became apparent. It was a wild plan, and if Xander had had more time to think about it, he might not have gone through with it. But there were less than fifteen minutes until the wedding began and, if Niko was really just hungover somewhere, Xander wanted to save everyone from the consequences of his brother skipping the wedding.
So, he grabbed his brother’s wedding suit. As quickly as he could, he changed into the groom’s outfit, leaving his own clothes hung over a chair. If the best man didn’t come to the wedding, it wouldn’t raise too many eyebrows — after all, Xander was known for being a little flighty. No, Xander the best man wouldn’t be at the wedding. But Niko the groom would be.
When Xander caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, he hesitated. If he couldn’t pull this off and the crowd gathered in the wedding hall found out he was impersonating his brother, all hell would break loose. But as Xander took in the sight of the neatly trimmed suit and his own face, so close to his twin’s, above it, he couldn’t help thinking of what he’d told Niko yesterday about duty to his country and to the people he loved.
If Niko missed the wedding, he would be in deep trouble with the whole kingdom. Their parents would be furious and disappointed in both brothers. And poor Maisy, whose wedding day it was, would be humiliated in front of a huge crowd.
With that in mind, it felt like it was Xander’s duty to take his brother’s place. When Niko turned up, hopefully within a few hours and with a pounding headache, they could switch back. No one would have to know that the wrong brother had taken part in the ceremony.
So, Xander took a deep breath and exited the changing room.
One of the wedding coordinators was standing directly outside the door, her fist raised as if Xander had interrupted her in the middle of knocking.
“Oh, thank goodness. Niko, we need to get you into the hall right now. The wedding is about to start!”
