The dress was very heavy. Juleka twirled away from her dance partner and fanned her face as she poured herself a glass of fruit punch. The jewels on the bodice of her royal blue dress were weighing her down. But she’d still gotten a lot more than she’d thought. Juleka casually put a hand in one of her dress’s secret pockets and felt the sharp edges of her stolen gems. The fruit of her labor. She counted at least twenty and had to keep herself from smiling. Juleka still hadn’t danced with the prince, he would have a lot of jewels on him for her to steal. She had dressed up elegantly, she would fit in perfectly with the other girls and she knew for a fact that the prince would dance with them all. People like him craved attention. Juleka felt a pang in her chest when she imagined her brother telling her she looked like a real princess. She shook herself out of the thought and went to dance some more, she had a feeling that this night was going to be a success.

Amanda seriously regretted going through the vents. The metal creaked under her weight and she was sure that she would fall through and into the ballroom, where there was currently a ball going on. This was by far her worst plan ever. Jules would’ve been able to do this. Amanda’s toes curled in her sneakers and she clenched her jaw. Jules wasn’t there. But Amanda was. She could do this. She had to. The prince’s chambers were just a little father, she knew that there would be no one inside and she would have about two minutes to steal everything she could get her hands on. Amanda had everything planned down to the second, it was what she did. She had always been the brains of the operation, that was until--she banished the thought and kept crawling. Almost there. 

The prince was tall, handsome, and fearless, with chiseled features that looked like they were carved out of stone, and striking green eyes that his long blonde hair flopped into, though he made it look elegant. In other words, he looked like any other prince. Juleka would know, she’d stolen from many of them. With Caleb as your partner. Prince Alexander had just turned twenty five, only a few years older than Juleka herself. He walked around the ballroom and chatted with blushing and giggling girls. Then he saw her. Juleka’s heart somersaulted as the prince passed by all of the other beautiful princesses waiting for him, and came towards Juleka, the faker. 

“What name could a damsel as beautiful as you have?” Prince Alexander asked, gently kissing the knuckle on her right hand. 

“Juleka, your highness,” She curtsied and tried to hide her blush. A prince had never come over to her before, this was going to be interesting. 

“Would you honor me with a dance?” The prince asked.

“Why not,” Juleka replied coolly, as she put her hand in the prince’s outstretched one. He led her onto the dance floor. 

The trick of being a good thief was distraction, so, as the pair danced, Juleka made sure to keep the prince talking and looking at her so he didn’t see Juleka pluck off the golden buttons of his jacket. 

“So, your highness, are you enjoying the party?” Juleka asked. With nimble fingers she palmed a gem off of the prince’s collar. 

“Of course, what about you Princess Juleka?” Prince Alexander asked. 

“I’m enjoying it a lot more than I expected.”

The song ended and they separated, looking at each other awkwardly for a moment. 

“Would you like a tour of the castle?” The prince asked suddenly. 

Juleka liked the sound of that. She hid a smile and pretended to chew her lip as she considered his offer. “That would be nice.” 

“Let’s start with my chamber.”

Amanda heard voices. A man and woman. The prince with another princess perhaps? This was not in her plan. This was bad. Amanda held down her panic, she was going to see how much exactly changed and then adapt accordingly. She was not going to panic or leave, not until she got what she came here for. Jules wouldn’t have been afraid. The thought snuck up on her and sank its claws into her mind. I’m not going to be like Jules. She got someone killed and left me to deal with the consequences. I don’t care that she was braver. At least that was what she tried to convince herself. 

“So, Prince Alexander, what do you do in your free time?” The girl questioned. 

Amanda listened to the voice closely from where she hid in a vent near the ground. She couldn’t see the prince or the girl due to the grilles on the vent cover, but she could hear them. The girl sounded strangely familiar. Who was she?

“Please, call me Alexander.”

“Of course.”

Amanda felt a stab of recognition. It couldn’t be her. Without thinking Amanda threw open the vent cover and rushed out. Knowing who the girl was, but dreading it all the same. 

“Jules!?” Amanda stood in front of Juleka, but she couldn’t believe it was her. How was she there? Why?

“Amanda?” Jules questioned, confusion and surprise written plainly on her face. 

“You know her?” Prince Alexander asked as he slowly backed away from the pair. 

Both the girls ignored the prince and simply stared at each other. Years before they’d agreed to never talk to each other again, and this was the first time they’d seen each other since the accident. It was for their own good, after that day neither of them could look at the other without seeing Caleb. 

“You’re ruining my job,” Juleka said, anger filling her once the shock left. 

“Your job?” Amanda asked, scoffing, “I was here first.”

“Even if you were, I’m here now. And I don’t see any gems in the pockets of your coat. I’m gonna knock him out before he calls out for help--”

“No!” Amanda said with a horrified look on her face. “That’s not in the plan! The guard change is going to happen in thirty seven seconds, we have to wait--”

“Guards! Help!” Prince Alexander shouted. 

The cell was small and dark and smelt of rot. 

“This is all your fault,” Juleka said angrily. 

The guards had arrested the two thieves and shackled them together in a prison cell. Chains tied to both their wrists hung them from the ceiling a foot off the ground. Juleka swung her legs, trying to loosen the hooks that held them to the ceiling. 

“That’s never going to work, you’re just hurting yourself,” Amanda said. After a few moments of hearing Juleka struggle she said quietly, “I have a plan to get us out.”

Juleka stopped struggling and laughed, “Another plan? Who are you going to get killed this time? Caleb isn’t here to take the fall.”

Rage flared, tinting Amanda’s vision red. Both girls were silent as the same memory consumed them. 

First, they remembered the months of planning before the actual operation. Then the start of the job had gone well, that was until they’d seen the dogs. Amanda hadn’t added the presence of guard dogs into her plan, Caleb hadn’t seen them when he’d gone undercover or stolen the layout of the mansion. Against Amanda’s wishes, Juleka had ignored the plan and found another way into the vault. But because of her, the guards had cornered Amanda, Juleka, and Caleb. The girls had argued  over continuing to go as they’d originally arranged, or changing their plan. Caleb had been Amanda’s husband, and Juleka’s brother. He hadn’t wanted it to seem like he was choosing one of them over the other, but he’d decided to keep going as they’d planned. Caleb had gotten killed because their original route had been compromised. Amanda and Juleka had barely escaped, and they blamed each other for his death. 

“You should’ve waited. I was going to think of something to get past the dogs,” Amanda forced her voice to stay even. 

“We didn’t have time to wait. You should’ve listened to me,” Juleka replied. 

“If you hadn’t ruined my plan we would’ve been able to escape my way!”

“Just stop!” Juleka said angrily. “It was both of our faults! Is that what you want to hear? We both should’ve listened to each other.”

Both Amanda and Juleka stayed silent for a few moments after the latter’s outburst. 

“You’re right,” Amanda said quietly, “It’s both of our faults. We didn’t listen then, but please listen to me now. The next time a guard comes in, choke him until he faints. I’ll grab the keys to the chains.”

Juleka wanted to find a flaw in her plan, to find a reason to say no, but it was a solid idea. Begrudgingly, she nodded. 

After a few hours a guard entered the dank cell to check on the prisoners. Juleka needed him to come closer. 

“Hey! When I see your face there’s nothing I would change, except the direction I’m walking in,” Juleka taunted. 

“You...” The guard came closer, anger taking control of his common sense. 

In one swift movement Juleka wrapped her legs around the guard’s throat like a steel band. He couldn’t scream, much less fight, and in a few minutes he went limp. Juleka strained to keep him upright as Amanda reached her foot over to grab the keys off of his belt. 

“Almost… got it!” 

Juleka let his body drop. “Now what?”

“Idea,” Amanda put the keys in her mouth and stretched out her legs to wrap them around Juleka’s torso. Then she slowly inched upwards until her face was level with Juleka’s chained hands. Using her tongue she angled the key to face the lock, she inserted and twisted it. The chain fell open with a soothing click. 

Juleka hissed when all of her weight fell onto her other wrist. Amanda hurried to unlock it. Juleka landed in a crouch and rubbed her raw wrists. 

Amanda let the keys fall from her mouth, “Now free me.”

Juleka stood up shakily and started coughing--no, she wasn’t coughing. She was laughing. 

“Jules? What are you doing? Unlock the chains so we can escape,” Amanda glanced at the door worriedly, someone could be coming to check on the unconscious guard. They had to leave immediately. 

“There’s no ‘we’. If Caleb hadn’t listened to you he would still be alive. It’s your fault he’s dead. I’ll never forgive you. I hope you rot in here,” Juleka said, and she had never been more serious. 

Juleka picked up the keys and casually walked out of the cell, ignoring Amanda’s cries of protest. 

“No! Jules! Come back! I’m sorry! Don’t leave! Jules! No!” Amanda called out desperately. 

Her pleas were left unheard.