Once Upon a Princess

by Christine Marciniak

  I reach around to my back pocket. My phone is there. Yay for Georgie keeping her head when all around her people were losing theirs. I duck into the doorway of a vacuum repair store and start taping.

  “Prinzessin Fredericka here,” I begin. “Pap, I am safe. Do not fear for me. Stay with the country, and save the kingdom. Remember you are king. Ich leibe dich.”

  I hope that is enough. I shove my phone back into my pocket and move quickly down the street, turning down the first side street I come to. I need to keep moving so that Felix can’t find me. And I need to get help. I need to find a policeman. There should be one on nearly every corner directing traffic, right? I’ve watched American movies. I know how this works, but I haven’t seen one yet. I pull my phone back out of my pocket as I walk and dial 911, remembering that I don’t have to find the police. They can send them to me.

  On the other end of the phone, a pleasant female voice says, “911, what is your emergency?”

  “I need a policeman,” I say.

  “What is the emergency?” the woman repeats. “Why do you need a policeman?”

  “Someone was trying to kidnap me, and I got away, but I don’t know where he is, and I need a policeman.” I keep walking as I talk, and the simple act of telling what is wrong makes me panicky. This is real, this is really happening.

  “Okay, where are you?” the woman says, her voice steady and calm.

  I take a breath. I can do this. I can stay calm as well. “I don’t know. Somewhere near Boston.”

  “Are you inside or outside?”

  “Outside.”

  “What street are you on?”

  “I don’t know,” I say, looking for a cross street and a street sign.

  “Can you find out?”

  “I’ll try.”

  “What phone number are you calling from, in case we get disconnected?”

  I tell her, but it’s a foreign number and that confuses her.

  “What is your name?” she asks.

  “I am Fredericka Mohr.” I answer. “Please can you send the police? I’m afraid.”

  “You need to tell us where you are,” she says. “Did you find a street name?”

  I see a cross street and hurry to it. I tell her the names on the sign.

  “Okay, you stay there, and we’ll have a police officer with you shortly.”

  “I can’t stay here. If I stay in one place, he’ll find me.”

  “But we need to find you, Fredericka. Just stay calm. Someone will be with you soon.”

  I scan the street and see what looks like the car that Felix forced me into before.

  “I see him,” I try to scream, but it ends up as more of a whisper. “He’s back. I need to get out of here.”

  “Fredericka,” the woman begins, but I’m not listening. I need to get out of here. I shove the phone back in my pocket and run down the side street, hoping Felix didn’t see me before I saw him. I turn down one street and then another, hoping that by not keeping a straight line, Felix won’t be able to follow me.

  Then as I turn down a street that is more residential, with cookie-cutter houses lining both sides, I see Bethany, walking with Kim and coming toward me. They will help me. I’m saved.

  “Boy, am I happy to see you!” I say, finally stopping to catch my breath.

  “Hello, Fritzi,” Kim says and nudges Bethany, who looks like she’s searching for an escape route. I know the feeling.

  “What are you doing here?” Bethany asks. “I thought you were trapped at home waiting for the police. I guess that was just a pathetic attempt at getting a little more attention. Saying you were a princess didn’t get you enough?”

  I’m not even sure what she’s talking about, but I can’t waste time trying to figure it out. “Do you know where the police station is?” I ask. “Or even a policeman? I’ve looked on the corners but didn’t see one.”

  “This isn’t the nineteen-fifties,” Bethany says with a roll of her eyes. “Do you think America is like you see in old movies?”

  “Of course I thought that,” I answer, not in the mood to play games. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Just make another video,” Bethany says. “Or didn’t that one bring the police?”

  “It did,” I say and realize that she has admitted to watching my videos, but I don’t have time to sort out what that actually means. “But I need a police officer. Now. I’m in danger.”

  “Call 911,” Kim says.

  “I did. But they didn’t get here fast enough.”

  “She’s probably so used to traveling with private security she’s afraid to walk around without an armed guard,” Bethany sneers as an aside to Kim, treating me like I’m not even there.

  While that is scarily accurate in its own way, it falls a little short of reality.

  “I just need the police,” I say. I don’t care if she’s dissing me. This is no time to worry about injured pride. I need help, and they can help me. I know they can. “Please! Do you know where I can find them?”

  Bethany shrugs as if it’s no concern of hers. Kim screws up her face in concentration. “I think the station is at the end of Main Street. You go right when you get to the corner and then just go straight.”

  I start to thank her when I’m distracted by a car pulling up behind them. My heart starts to beat faster even before Felix jumps out of the car. I don’t wait for further explanations. I turn and start to run.

  “Fredericka!” he yells after me. I glance behind and see that he’s grabbed Bethany. I stop.

  Her eyes are wide with fright. Kim runs away, hopefully to get help.

  “Come here, Fredericka,” he says.

  Like a pull toy on a string, I go.

  “You don’t want to see anything happen to your friend, do you?” he asks.

  “Let her go,” I say, trying to sound regal and commanding like Mam. My voice comes out in a pathetic squeak instead.

  “I will let her go as soon as you agree to come with me.”

  If I go with him, he will have power over me again. He will use me as bait to get Pap to abdicate. The whole future of the kingdom will be in jeopardy. Not to mention my life, since he’s threatened to kill me tomorrow if Pap doesn’t abdicate. If I go with him, there is no good outcome for me at all. None.

  But if I don’t go, what will he do to Bethany? She has nothing to do with any of this. She does not deserve to be caught in the middle of it. She might not like me because I’m not the underdog—though in this particular situation I don’t think I could get more underdog-ish—but no matter what I do, I lose.

  I lose, yes. But not Bethany. A princess does not let others suffer on her behalf. That was another lesson taught by my grandmother.

  “I’ll go with you,” I say. “Let her go.”

  He drops Bethany, shoving her away from him, and grabs me. I don’t struggle. What’s the point? If I escape here, he’ll just grab Bethany again. He shoves me in the car and takes off again.

  “Are you going to kill me?” I ask. He’s got to know I’m thinking it; we might as well just get it out there.

  “My, you are direct.” He pretends to think about it for a moment. “If you prove to be no longer useful to me, then yes, probably.” He grins at me; it is not a friendly grin. “I can be direct, too.”

  “Well, I don’t think I’m going to be particularly useful to you, so you might as well kill me now,” I say with a resigned sigh. I will not be a pawn to deceive my family or my country. Instead I will go down in the history books like the Romanov Sisters, as someone who died in a revolution.

  I’d rather not, but if that’s the way things have to be, I can be brave. Hopefully. For as long as it takes.

  “Feisty Fritzi indeed,” he says with a chuckle.

  I don’t think my imminent death is a topic for amusement.

  “No, I think you can be useful to us,” he says.

  “I don’t want to be useful to you,” I say.

  “I’ve gotten that impression.�
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  We ride in silence for awhile. I don’t know where we are going. We seem to be getting farther and farther from town and anything remotely familiar.

  I don’t want to die for the nobler cause. Perhaps I was too hasty when I said I wouldn’t work with him. Maybe I can be forgiven for trying to save myself. It’s not unreasonable to want to live until I can at least say I’m officially a teenager.

  “There’s no reason to be concerned,” Felix says after probably a half hour of silence. “No one really wants to see you hurt. You have nothing to fear.”

  I don’t feel particularly comforted by that.

  We come to another town, and Felix pulls the car into an underground parking garage. Is this the end? In the movies, nothing good ever happens in a parking garage. If he is going to kill me, I hope it can be outside so my last view can be of something beautiful.

  Felix pulls me from the car and drags me toward an elevator.

  So maybe I won’t die in the garage.

  My blood starts to warm a little. Maybe I won’t die at all.

  Because, really, I’d rather not.

  He drags me up a very industrial staircase to a slightly less industrial hallway. We seem to be in an office building, but no one is around. Maybe it’s a closed office building. I’m not sure this is much better than a parking garage, to be honest.

  He opens a door marked Suite 103, and we go in. There’s a standard-issue waiting room with semi-comfortable looking chairs and side tables with magazines on them. We don’t stop in the waiting room though. He unlocks a door to the left and opens it. My whole body is shaking, and I don’t know what to expect next, but something tells me it’s not going to be good.

  He reaches into my back pocket and extracts my phone. “You won’t be needing this,” he says and shoves me into the room.

  Behind me, the door locks, and I find myself alone in an empty, windowless room.

  Now what?

  25

  At least the room has light. It’s bad enough to be alone in an empty room, but to be alone in an empty room in the dark would be more than I could handle right about now.

  I listen at the door but hear nothing on the other side. I go to the farthest corner of the room, somehow feeling that it’s the safest, and sit down on the floor, my back against the wall. I wish I had my phone. Besides calling for help, I’d call Mam and let her know I’m alive. And I’d make another video. And what would I say? I picture it in my head.

  “Princess Fritzi here. I’ve got myself in a bit of a muddle. I don’t know where I am, and I am being used for bait so my father, the king, will abdicate. If anyone can figure out how to help me, well, I’d really appreciate it. Danke. Thanks.”

  Yeah. That would be helpful.

  I could cry. It’s very tempting to cry. But I realize I’m not as much sad as I am angry. How dare Felix kidnap me and use me to win the kingdom for Orcutt? That’s not playing fair. Though maybe fairness doesn’t have a whole lot to do with it right now.

  My stomach grumbles, and I wonder if Felix will even bother to feed me. Maybe he’ll just leave me in here all alone until I starve to death. He could have at least put a chair in the room. There are doors, and while I’m fairly certain they are not an escape route, I investigate. One is to a coat closet, empty except for one wire hanger. Maybe I can use that hanger to pick the lock on the door. I’ll come back to that later.

  The other room is a bathroom. As soon as I see the toilet, I realize that I really need to pee. Power of suggestion, possibly, but regardless, I’m really glad the facility is there. I wash my hands and cup them to get a little water to drink from the sink and then head back to see what I can do with the hanger.

  I’m halfway across the room when the door opens, and Felix comes in carrying a bag of take-out food. “Hungry, Your Royal Highness?” he asks. I don’t particularly like the sarcastic note in his voice, but I’m not in much of a position to do anything about it.

  “Yes, thank you,” I say, reaching for the bag.

  “Not so fast,” he says, holding it out of reach. “I think you’ll have to work for your supper.”

  I’m pretty sure he doesn’t mean hard labor in the copper mines.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “I think you owe me another of your videos.”

  “I can’t make a video. You took my phone,” I remind him.

  “I’ll provide the phone,” he says. “It’s time to let the people of Colsteinburg know that they are no longer indebted in any way to the royal family.”

  I swallow hard, but I can’t let his misunderstanding stand. “The people of Colsteinburg are not indebted to us and never have been,” I say. “The royal family serves the people. We are there on behalf of the people.”

  The slap across the face surprises me just as much as last time. “None of this royalist hogwash,” he says. “Make the video.”

  I hold my hand to my cheek and try not to let him see me cry.

  “I don’t think so,” I say.

  “Then I don’t think you’ll be eating.” He leaves and takes the bag of food with him. The smell of burgers and fries lingers in the room, and I let the scent wash over me and pretend I’m eating. It’s not very satisfying.

  I grab the coat hanger that will free me from this prison and then study the lock. It’s electronic. I don’t think there is anything I can do with the coat hanger to open it, even if I had any idea how to pick a lock. My education up to this point has been sorely lacking in some crucial skills.

  Back to my cozy corner. My stomach rumbles again. Maybe I should have done a video for him so I could get some food. But no. He already said he’d kill me tomorrow if Pap doesn’t do what he wants. I’m not likely to starve to death before tomorrow, and I can at least go out without acting the traitor.

  What happened at the townhouse after Felix took me? Who won, the police or the bad guys? Are Mam and Georgie okay? Did Henri get to a hospital? I pull my knees close to my chest and rest my head on them. I will not cry. I will not.

  The doorknob rattles, and I look up.

  Felix is there once again carrying the bag of food.

  “One little video and you can have this burger,” he says enticingly.

  “No,” I answer. I really want to say yes. I really want that burger, even if it’s cold now.

  “All you have to do is beg Pappy to come and save you. That’s all I need.”

  “I won’t do it!” I put my head back down on my knees. I don’t want to look at him. I want this nightmare to be over.

  “Fine. My way will be more effective anyway.”

  That doesn’t sound good. Next thing I know, he’s pulling me to my feet. He grabs hold of me from behind and holds a knife to my neck. With his other hand, he holds out his phone.

  “Smile for the camera, Fritzi,” he says.

  I’m afraid to even move.

  “Frederick. I have your daughter. She is entirely under my control. You have until noon tomorrow to let me know your answer, or she dies.”

  “Hey!” I protest as he lowers the camera. “You said he had twenty-four hours. Noon isn’t twenty-four hours!”

  “I changed my mind. I’m in charge. I can do that.”

  He lets go of me, and I retreat back into my safe corner. I want to stand up to him and let him know who he’s dealing with, but I’m tired and hungry and scared, and I just can’t anymore.

  “Can I have a blanket?” I ask, hating myself for even asking for that.

  He hesitates, and I think he’s going to say no, but finally he says, “I’ll see if I can find one.”

  “Thank you,” I answer, wishing I’d had the courage not to say anything at all.

  He leaves the bag of food on the floor, but I don’t touch it. I didn’t do the video willingly. I didn’t earn that food. It seems like forever before he comes back with a blanket and drops it by my feet. He picks up the bag in the middle of the floor. “You didn’t eat your dinner,” he says. “No sense in l
etting the food go to waste.” He puts that by my feet as well.

  He leaves again. I reach out for the bag of food. There’s really no reason to deny myself the burger and fries, undoubtedly cold by this point, just because he made doing the video a condition of eating them. I can set my own conditions. And I say I’m hungry and I should eat the food that is available to me. So I do.

  It’s cold and kind of greasy, and it leaves my stomach feeling a bit unsettled, but it satisfies my hunger and it gives me something to do for a little while. There are only so many ways to occupy yourself in an empty room, while waiting to either die or be rescued.

  I curl up with my blanket in my corner and say every prayer I can ever remember learning and make up a bunch of new ones. When you’re waiting to die, praying seems like a really good way to pass the time.

  I wake up when the door to the room opens again. I have no way of knowing how long I’ve slept. Was it an hour or ten? I’m stiff and achy, but I’m not used to sleeping on the floor for any amount of time, so that might not mean much.

  Bleary-eyed, I watch Felix cross the room to me. “I hope you slept well,” he says. I doubt he really cares, so I don’t answer him.

  “I have heard from your father. He is on his way to rescue his little princess. Only you won’t be a princess anymore, will you?” He laughs at his own stupid attempt at a joke and leaves the room again.

  Pap is coming here? I won’t die. My heart soars at that, which feels like a betrayal. By rescuing me, he is abandoning the kingdom. I didn’t want him to do that. Colsteinburg has been ours for eight hundred years. It should go on just the same for another eight hundred.

  If I had my phone, I would check and see what time it is. I don’t even have a window to see if it’s morning or not. If I had my phone, I’d make another video, one last video as a princess.

  “Prinzessin Fredericka here. Once upon a time, I was told I was a princess, and it was true. After today, it may not be true anymore, but my love for my country will never die. I want to come back and see the mountains and the flowers and the rivers. Ich leibe dich, Colsteinburg.”