The Soldier and the Princess

Chapter three

Daphne

“Oh!”Iwasjerked from my memories when Penelope gasped out loud. I whipped my head to look at her as her hand clutched tighter to my arm.

“What’s the matter?” I asked, my panic rising as her other hand went to her belly. “Is it the baby?”

Penelope let out a chuckle. “Yes, but not in the way you’re thinking.” Seeing the smile on her face, my heart rate started to slow. “I just need to pee. It sort of sneaks up on me lately.”

I breathed out a laugh. “Thank goodness. You scared the pants off of me!”

“Girl,” she teased, glancing down at my skinny jeans. “Those pants are so tight, I bet it would take the jaws of life to get them off of you.” I started to blush, but Penelope just pat my arm. “Don’t worry, I’m only saying these things out of jealousy. I’ll likely never be able to wear skinny jeans again.”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll be just fine. You’re not wrong about the tight jeans, though,” I say with a dramatic grimace. I don’t know what I had been thinking. They were so ridiculously tight that I couldn’t even get my phone in my back pocket. I rolled my eyes as it pinged another incoming text. Penelope and I both laughed at my struggle to pocket the thing until I finally gave up, powered down the stupid phone that would just not stop buzzing, and tucked it in my bra.

Just as good as a pocket, if you asked me.

“Excuse me,” I asked the woman standing behind the counter, her eyes glued to her own phone. She glanced up, fake smile in place, and tilted her head in question. “Can you tell us where the bathroom is?” She jerked her chin in the general direction of the back of the store. “Um, thanks?” I said, using my best passive-aggressive voice to indicate just how bad I thought her customer service was.

Penelope and I headed back, looking for anything that indicated there was a public bathroom somewhere.

“Yikes,” Penelope whispered. “Who peed in her latte? That’s not good business.” Leave it to Penelope to look at the marketing side of everything. The girl never stopped working. “How did you hear about this place anyway? It’s so far from where you normally shop.” It was true, the place was nowhere near my usual hangouts. This shop was all the way up in Yonkers, tucked in some warehouse that looked like it was once a meat packing plant or something. The ceilings were high and open, with beams and chains hanging all around. It was empty except for us and the salesgirl, but the dresses were actually pretty quality, once I stopped moping long enough to notice them.

“My mother mentioned it. She said that Constance was going on and on about it the last time they talked. Apparently, Constance called her specifically to mention that I come looking for my dress here.” Which, now that I thought about it, was weird. Constance usually didn’t care if I showed up in a paper sack, as long as she looked good. She probably knew the owner and was collecting good will for free stuff. That seemed more like my sister.

“Well, I am not leaving a positive Yelp review, you can believe me! Oh, good! There it is. I wasn’t sure if I was gonna make it much longer.”

Penelope dashed inside the bathroom, stopping at the last second to peek her face out before she closed it completely.

“While I’m taking care of business,” she laughed, waggling her eyebrows at me; the girl was a total nut, and I loved her for it. “Head back out there and find yourself a dress, girl. This party is for you, whether you want it or not. Might as well look the part.” And with that, she shut the door.

Doing as Penelope suggested, I wandered back into the shopping area, skipping the racks and racks of clothing and instead meandering my way to the tables filled with jewelry.

I ran my fingers over the different pieces, most made out of sterling silver and other non-precious metals, all laid out, side by side, on black velvet mats. Long chains with sparkly pendants, wide cuff bracelets, and rings with cut glass stones as big as my thumb nail spread out before me like a buffet of tempting treats. Each one designed to catch the eye and entice you with false promises of wealth and status, whispering in your ear that if you just wore enough jewelry, owned the latest handbag, and had the longest eyelashes, you would be worth something to someone.

To everyone.

I believed none of it.

I had spent my life surrounded by people who were dripping in excess, constantly cloaked in abundance and sour perfume, and they weren’t worth the cost of a cup of coffee. Fake, shallow, and willing to stab anyone in the back to get ahead, I had never felt comfortable in the circles my mother and sister traveled in. Maybe that was why I got along with Penelope so well; because she was real and genuine and honest. She was probably the first true friend I had ever had.

And I had missed her terribly.

Moving along the wall of display cases, I paused in my cynical perusal of the latest must-have accessories when something caught my eye. Drawn to it like a moth to a flame, I stood staring at the shiny circlet of silver and stones with my heart in my throat.

It wasn’t the same one, not even close really, but there was no denying the memories that assaulted me at the sight of the small tiara. Darting my hand out, I gently touched the delicate curves of the shining diadem, my fingers registering a sort of electric spark when I made contact.

Feeling more alive than I had in months, I reached for it, removing it from the shelf and stepping in front of the wall mounted mirror. My breaths were quick and shallow as I raised my eyes to the mirror, that hollowness back in my chest, as I placed the tiara on my head. I stared, transfixed by the sight of it on nestled against my ponytail, remembering everything about that day, how kind and patient Silas was.

How I thought he hung the moon.

I was still staring at myself, lost in memories and heartache, when the bell above the door chimed, announcing more people entering the warehouse. I didn’t notice anything was amiss until I heard the startled gasp of the woman at the sales desk. Only then did I shift my focus, using the mirror to view the room behind me.

What I saw had my blood turning to ice water in my veins.

Standing behind me were two men. That was really all I could say about them, because they each had a ski mask on, covering their faces and black hoodies pulled up high.

I was frozen, watching them in the mirror as they moved farther into the shop, both of them zeroing in on the salesgirl where she stood behind the desk, her face pale and her eyes wide in shock.

“Don’t fucking move, bitch,” one of them snarled, and I noticed he had a gun raised, the barrel pointed in her direction as he gestured wildly with it. “All we want is the woman. Where the fuck is she?”

Panic like I had never felt before flooded my system, my arms and legs tingling with adrenaline as they started to shake uncontrollably. So far, whoever these guys were, they hadn’t seen me, standing to the side of the store, out of their current line of sight.

The woman at the desk had her hands in the air, her eyes wide as she followed the barrel of the gun from side to side. When she failed to speak, probably because she was as scared as I was, the guy with the gun shook it in here direction again.

“I said, where is she? We want the Pennington woman!”