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 letting 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.”
The world as I know it is ending, regardless of what happens today. I don’t even know how to look ahead beyond the next few hours. I don’t know what life is going to look like. If I’m even going to be alive. I hug my knees to myself and try not to think about anything at all. It’s hard.
Time drags on, and I don’t know if it is a good thing or not that I can’t check my phone every few minutes to see how slowly the time is passing.
The door opens one more time, and Felix stands there. “Come with me, Fredericka.”
He didn’t call me Princess. Is it already all over?
“Where am I going?” I ask, though why I should be at all reluctant to leave this empty room is beyond me. Maybe it’s that I don’t want whatever might happen next to happen.
“Time to see Pappy.” He takes me by the arm and leads me out of the empty room to the one next door. This one is furnished with a sofa and a table, and standing in the middle of it is Pap.
“Fritzi!”
He is upon me in an instant, hugging me and kissing me.
I bury my face in Pap’s shirt, inhaling the scent of him, sweat and cologne and a hint of tobacco, memorizing all of him in case we are separated again. I don’t care what happens next. I’m with Pap, and that’s all that matters.
“My precious Fritzi!” he keeps repeating as he strokes my hair.