Once Upon a Princess Read online

  A friend of Pap’s. I’m not about to be murdered. Instead, I’ve found help. I breathe a sigh of relief.

  “Is Pap all right? Have you seen him?”

  “I have. Let us walk and talk. I do not want to arouse suspicion.”

  I walk with him in the opposite direction from our townhouse, heading to a part of town I have yet to explore, but I feel safe. He is a friend of Pap’s.

  “Tell me,” I say, bouncing a little as I walk. “What has Pap said to you? Is he coming here? Does he want us to go home?”

  “Hold on, little one,” Felix says. “Your father does not want you to go home yet. Things are still too unstable, but he did send me a gift to bring you.” He hands me the canvas bag he is carrying.

  “What is it?” I ask, even as I open the bag and see Sir Fred, my old teddy bear, nestled inside. I pull him out and hold him close. No, I haven’t needed him since I was five, but boy is it nice to have this comforting bit of home back in my arms. “Pap sent this to me? You’ve seen him? He’s okay?”

  “Things are not easy for him, Your Royal Highness. He misses you and your mother and sister.”

  “Then we should go to him,” I say. All I want is to be home and back with Pap again.

  “Nein. It is not time. Not yet.”

  We stop at a traffic light, and I put the bear back in the bag. I may be delighted to have him back again, but that doesn’t mean I want to be seen hugging a teddy bear. I am twelve, after all.

  “Come home with me,” I say, thinking of how much Mam would like seeing someone from Colsteinburg. Especially one of Pap’s friends. It will totally help draw her out of herself.

  “Nein. It is better they do not know I am here.”

  The light changes to green, and we cross, walking into a residential area with old houses and small front lawns. It isn’t really like Colsteinburg, where our houses in town are built very close together, and those in the country have lots of space around them, and they all have red tile roofs, and most have flower boxes at every window. I want to be back home.

  “Why?”

  “I am operating in secret. Working for your father.”

  “But then you should want to see my mother and Henri.” Of course anyone who has any information about Pap should see Mam. That seems very clear to me.

  “Henri,” Felix says with a nod. “He is not so discreet as I am. He will give away my plan. It is best he not know you saw me.”

  “You don’t trust Henri?” I ask, feeling a flutter of doubt in my heart. Henri is all that is keeping us safe. If we can’t trust him, then where will we turn? Suddenly, the peaceful houses around us all might be harboring assassins waiting for me to make a mistake, like going out without security.

  “To keep you safe? Yes, I trust him implicitly for that. You should have no fear. To keep a secret about my mission? That is different.” He is so calm and soothing. There is really no reason not to trust what he says. After all, he brought me my bear. He must have spoken to Pap.

  “What is Pap doing to end the coup?” I ask.

  “It’s all very complicated and taking place in diplomatic circles. I can’t give any details.”

  I sigh in frustration. “I want to help,” I say. “What can I do to help? Everyone tells me I’m too young, but I must be able to do something.”

  “Maybe you can help,” Felix says, as if struck by sudden inspiration.

  “How?”

  “Your videos,” Felix says.

  A little glimmer of pride burns inside me. “Should I keep doing them?”

  “Of course,” Felix says. “But also, let your father know how much you miss him. He sees the videos and appreciates them.”

  “He does?” I’m helping Pap. I knew these videos were a good thing.

  “But it is dangerous for him there. Many of his friends are in hiding. He needs to go someplace safe so that he can regroup and rally his friends around him.”

  “Shouldn’t he do that in Colsteinburg?”

  We get to another street. This one has no traffic light, but we don’t cross it. Instead, we turn the corner and keep walking. Does Felix know where we are going, or are we just wandering? I wish he would come back home with me. Mam and Georgie can keep a secret. If Henri cannot, we simply won’t tell him anything. It’s as easy as that.

  “Too dangerous,” Felix answers me.

  “But isn’t the military on his side? Won’t they keep him safe?”

  Felix gives me a sad sort of smile. “It’s very hard to know who is friend and foe right now. It would be better for him if he were to leave the country. To be somewhere safe.”

  “But he can’t leave. If he does, he abdicates!”

  “Nonsense,” Felix says. “He’s traveled out of the country before. It doesn’t mean he’s not king.”

  This is true. We’ve come to America before and of course to France and Germany and Switzerland. Why, he probably spends almost half the year outside of Colsteinburg. I imagine Pap living with us in the townhouse, all safe and together. It would be wonderful.

  “Ask him to come to you. Tell him how much you miss him. You know he would do anything for you.”

  Would he? I know some people say I am spoiled, but would my father put my wishes above the good of Colsteinburg? Probably not. Then again, if my wishes were also for the good of Colsteinburg—that he get to a safe place, with us, in order to strengthen his position—then I might be able to convince him.

  “I can try,” I say.

  “That is good,” he answers. “You try. But remember, this is our secret. Do not tell anyone you saw me or what my plan is. For it to work, we require total secrecy.”

  “Right,” I say, even as I try to figure out what about this plan wouldn’t work if Georgie or Mam knew about it.

  “I must go,” Felix says. “Remember, tell no one you saw me.” And with that, he hurries off down the road, leaving me alone. I’m not even sure where I am. But groups of kids start coming toward me. School has obviously gotten out. I walk against the crowd until I get back to the school.

  Once the school building is in sight, I breathe a sigh of relief. I can find my way home from here.

  “Where’s your entourage?”

  I spin around and come face to face with Jasmine and her friends.

  “I gave them the day off. It’s so hard for a princess to get out by herself these days, you know.” My false bravado becomes real as I speak.

  Jasmine grins. “I’m sure.” She scuffs her sneaker against the ground. “You weren’t in school today.”

  “I know, Henri wouldn’t let me.”

  “Who’s Henri?”

  “My mother’s bodyguard.”

  “Where is he now?”

  “I gave him the slip.” I look over my shoulder. “I expect him to find me any minute.”

  “Huh, I had you pegged for a goody-goody.”

  I am a goody-goody, normally. As a princess of Colsteinburg, I can never do anything that would reflect badly on my family or the country. That pretty much keeps me in line.

  “Things are not always as they seem,” I answer.

  “Did the news cameras finally leave you alone?”

  “Ja, I guess they got what they needed.”

  Jasmine’s friend, the one who reminded me of Claudia when I first saw her, studies me carefully before asking, “So, if you’re really a princess, are you, like, going to be queen someday or something?”

  “No, that would be my sister.”

  The other girl, her black hair hanging long and straight down her back, narrows her eyes and smiles. “You ever want to off her so you can be queen instead?” she asks.

  I give her a withering stare, the kind my mother uses when someone is being particularly offensive.

  “Only when she gets on my nerves,” I say. “Kind of like you are doing right now.”

  The girl takes a step back, as if she actually thinks I might strike her down. What kind of power does she think princesses have? I suspect sh
e’s watched too many animated movies. Maybe she thinks I am going to summon a legion of lethal squirrels or something. I suppress a grin at the thought.

  “Marly,” Jasmine says with an exasperated sigh, “you are an idiot.”

  “I thought we didn’t like her.” Marly looks confused.

  Jasmine pushes her aside. “Don’t listen to her,” she says to me.

  “She’s right, though. You don’t like me,” I say.

  Jasmine starts to deny it. I can practically see her mouth forming the words, but then she changes her mind. She crosses her arms and taps her foot as she figures out what to say.

  “It’s okay,” I continue. “I didn’t much like you either. Especially after you dumped your food on me. Nothing like a head full of pasta to make the new girl feel welcome.”

  Jasmine looks like she might be about to apologize but stops. Apologies probably don’t come that easy to her.

  “I like you better now, though,” I say. “You’re a decent basketball player.”

  Her eyes open wide. “Decent? I’m the best!”

  I shrug. “If you say so.”

  “What’s your story?” Jasmine asks suddenly. “I don’t understand you.”

  “Why should you?” I answer. “I bet you never met anyone like me before.”

  Jasmine looks momentarily amused. “That’s true enough.”

  It is then that Henri catches up with me, and I am not at all unhappy to see him. “I must insist you return to the townhouse, Your Royal Highness,” he says.

  I’m not going to argue. The encounter with Felix left me jittery, and although sparring with Jasmine perked me up, I want to be behind doors, safe and secure.

  “I have to go,” I say to Jasmine and her friends.

  “Will you be back in school tomorrow?” Jasmine asks.

  I glance at Henri before answering.

  “Probably,” I say.

  “It is unlikely,” he says.

  We’ll negotiate that later, but if I have to stay trapped in the townhouse for too much longer, I’ll go crazy.

  “Well, maybe we’ll see you then,” Jasmine says, and they head off in one direction while I let Henri escort me back home.

  “I don’t suppose I have to tell you how dangerous going off on your own is,” he says.

  “Nothing happened to me,” I say. I’m itching to tell him about Felix but don’t.

  “What’s that you have there?” Henri asks, eyeing the bag I’m carrying.

  “Oh this?” I can’t tell him, can I? I can’t tell anyone I have Sir Fred back, because then I’d have to tell them how I got him, and I can’t give away Felix’s secret. “It’s just something Jasmine gave me. It has to do with a project I was supposed to do in school today.” I don’t like lying, but what choice do I have?

  Back home, Georgie is pacing the floor and turns on me when I come in with Henri. “Where did you go? Anything could have happened to you! You can’t just go about unescorted! If you don’t do that at home, where everyone knows you and you know your way around, why would you think you can do that here?”

  “I’m sorry,” I say, really feeling bad now that I see how upset Georgie is. “Nothing happened to me. I’m fine. You don’t have to worry.”

  “Of course I have to worry. It’s not like I have anything else to do.”

  This, unfortunately, is true.

  Henri has melted away into the kitchen, leaving me alone with Georgie. “I really am sorry,” I say. “I just needed to get out.”

  “You’re not the only one who feels trapped here,” Georgie says. “At least you go out most days to school.”

  She’s right, and now I feel even worse.

  “Do you think Pap has enough friends on his side back home?”

  Georgie takes a deep breath, and I see tears pooling in her eyes. “I don’t know, Fritzi. How am I supposed to know something like that?”

  “But you know everything!”

  “Ha!” She stands and strides across the room, only to turn and come right back. “Know everything, do I? I don’t know how to help Mam. I don’t know what’s happening at home. I don’t know if I’m supposed to help Pap. After all, I’m the next in line. Right? I mean, this is my kingdom. My destiny. My whole life being fought over in the streets, and where am I? In a stupid tiny townhouse watching game show reruns and eating soup out of cans. Know everything?” Her voice rises in volume and pitch. “I don’t even know how to get you to obey me.” She runs upstairs, and seconds later, the door to our room slams shut.

  I stay on the sofa, clutching my canvas bag. Now what?

  Upstairs, a door opens, and I hear tentative footsteps on the stairs. I hope it’s Georgie, but it’s Mam who comes into view.

  “Why did you slam the door, Fritzi?”

  “It wasn’t me.” Nothing like being typecast as the moody and volatile one in the house. “It was Georgie.”

  “Why?” Mam asks. “What did you do to her?”

  “Me?” Maybe my expression of innocence might be a bit exaggerated. “I didn’t do anything. She’s cracking under the pressure. We all are. Can’t we do anything?”

  “We can try to make life easier for each other. Can you manage that?”

  I don’t think I’ve been making life so difficult, but I don’t bother saying that. It wouldn’t end well if I did.

  “Yes, Mam,” I say. “Can we go home and help make life easier for Pap?”

  The look Mam gives me is full of regal reproach. “We can help Pap by staying here. Don’t bother me with that again.” She goes back to her room, and I’m left sitting on the sofa, hugging a bag that holds my teddy bear and wishing that this nightmare was over.

  17

  When I went away to school last month, I was afraid I’d be homesick. I envisioned myself on the phone to my parents or Georgie every couple of hours, but that’s not how things played out. My roommates, Sophia and Claudia, quickly became my substitute family. Sophia, of course, I’d known for years. But even in just a month, Claudia was as close to me as another sister. And now I can’t be in touch with them. Even worse, Sophia has cut me off. Now I’m feeling the homesickness I thought I’d feel at school. I’m homesick for my friends as well as everything else.

  Maybe a video would reach them, even if nothing else did. It’s worth a try.

  Henri is still in the kitchen, and Mam and Georgie are upstairs. I pull out my phone.

  “Hallo, Prinzessin Fredericka here. Home is more than just mountains and streams. It is friends. I miss my friends, Claudia, Sophia, and everyone. I hope to see you soon. Prost!”

  I upload the video and check the comments on some of the other ones. They’ve been viewed or shared hundreds of thousands of times. #PrinzessinFredericka is even trending. Maybe I really can make a difference with the videos.

  I pull Sir Fred out of the bag and hold him close, tears coming to my eyes. Pap gave this to Felix to give to me. Pap is thinking about me and worrying that I’m missing my teddy bear, even with everything else he has to worry about. With the videos, I really do have the power to reach him, to help him. Felix is right that Pap should be here with us. He should be someplace where he doesn’t have to worry about his physical safety so he can concern himself with winning back the country.

  Pap isn’t in the habit of taking advice from me, but I suppose it doesn’t hurt to try. If I don’t sound like a whiny kid, but instead like someone who has thought this out carefully, maybe it will be better received. I stick my bear back in the bag. Having my teddy bear by my side would not make me look like a reasoned, thoughtful, mature person.

  There is no sound from upstairs. In the kitchen, I hear Henri running water. I have to assume he’ll be in there at least long enough for me to make one more video.

  I take a deep breath and start.

  “Hallo, Prinzessin Fredericka here. This message is for my pap. It is not safe for you there. Come here, with us, to regroup and save the country. Colsteinburg needs you, but so do we. I miss you
. Ich leibe dich.” This video I end with “I love you” instead of “cheers.” It seems more appropriate.

  I upload the video.

  The doorbell rings, and I jump. Is it Felix? Did he decide to come here and see Mam after all? Is it a news crew? Is it the person who threatened Georgie? I can’t make myself get up and answer the door. Luckily, I don’t have to. Henri is already striding to the door.

  He opens it, and I am very relieved to see Mister Hart on the other side.

  He nods to Henri. “Mr. Behr, nice to see you again. May I come in and speak to Her Majesty?”

  “Of course,” Henri says and moves aside.

  The two men notice me curled up on the sofa.

  “Your Royal Highness,” Henri says, “You remember Ambassador Thomas Hart, don’t you?”

  I stand and smile and nod. “Of course,” I say, holding my hand out to him. “It’s a pleasure to see you again.” Why is he here? Is it because of the threat against Georgie? Because of the reporters? Is he going to tell me and Georgie we shouldn’t have spoken to them? Does he have news from home? Is it bad news?

  “The pleasure is mine, Fredericka,” he says, taking my hand.

  Henri goes upstairs to get Mam and Georgie, leaving me alone with the ambassador for a moment. I want to ask him all kinds of questions about home, but he probably has things he wants to tell all of us together.

  “How are you finding your temporary home?” he asks.

  “It’s very nice,” I say. “Thank you again for letting us use it.”

  Before he can answer, Mam and Georgie come downstairs, and Mam greats Ambassador Hart like the old friend he is. Soon we are all sitting around the living room, waiting for whatever it is Mr. Hart came here to tell us.

  He clears his throat and frowns. He does not look like a person who has good news to share. “Things are very unsettled right now. I spoke with Ivan Frank. He’s lost touch with His Majesty.”

  Lost touch with? What does that mean? I grab Georgie’s hand.

  “Do they know where he is?” Georgie asks.

  “Not at the present time, no.”

  “How can you just lose a king?” I ask.

  Georgie squeezes my hand.

  Mr. Hart shakes his head sadly. “I do not know what’s going on over there. The reports we are getting are very contradictory.”