"Pen, please can we go? Please!" Colin begged, dragging her through the flood of carnival goers. She stumbled after him, her stride never quite reaching his due to their obvious heigh difference. Why had she agreed to join the Bridgertons when they invited her here? She should have known it would be a chaotic affair. Even more so when each of the siblings picked themselves off one by one, leaving Colin and Penelope alone. She always dreaded what would happen if she was alone with him for too long. "It'll be fun, I promise!" He said with a blinding grin, throwing open the curtain to the tent marked 'Fortune Teller'. Colin reached into his pocket and pulled out a bill, slapping it on the rickety table, causing the glowing glass ball to wobble slightly. "Alright, how does this work? What's my fortune?" He asked, brimming with excitement. Penelope had to admit that the sight of him acting with childlike wonder was amusing.
The woman that sat in front of them had greying curls adorned with eccentric scarves and her eyes shown a bright green. She looked every bit a stereotypical 'gypsy woman' from a travelling carnival. Penelope rolled her eyes, and the woman snapped her attention towards her as if sensing her apprehension.
"Do you not believe in fortune telling, young girl?" The woman asked in a clearly fake accent.
Penelope scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Oh I believe in fortune. I just think we create it ourselves. I don't think I need it told to me by a complete stranger asking me to fork over twenty pounds," she explained, unimpressed.
Colin nudged her side, silently asking her to play nice. She knew she was being a bit of a bitch, but she was really just uncomfortable and didn't know how to express it to him. Things had grown tense between them lately since she forgave him for the whole 'I'd never date Penelope Featherington' fiasco. This was really the first time they'd been alone since.
The woman gave Penelope a once over. "Smart girl you are, Miss Featherington."
Penelope gulped. "How do you know my name?" Who was this lady, she thought eerily, chills creeping up her arms.
The woman ignored her question, deciding to ask one of her own. "Do you believe in soulmates?"
Penelope shifted on her feet, tightening her hands around herself and steeling her features. "Not really," she answered dismissively, despite having proof of their existence right on the skin of her wrist. She had done well at concealing it over the years due to the rarity of such a mark, and had spent her fair share of paychecks on makeup in doing so.
"Mmm," the woman hummed to herself, suddenly pulling out a deck of cards. They weren't tarot, and both Colin and Penelope watched enraptured as she shuffled them. "Sit," she ordered.
"Listen, ma'am, we appreciate-" Penelope began, but the woman cut her off.
"Sit, Miss Featherington. You too, Mister Bridgerton." Colin shot Penelope a slightly fearful look but shrugged, taking her hand in his and giving it a comforting squeeze. "I'd like to do a different kind of reading today, if you don't mind. See, you say you don't believe in soulmates..." She looked Penelope dead in the eye, glanced at Colin, then back at her. "But I think you do."
"Pen, maybe we should get back to the others," Colin whispered in her ear.
She shivered, though she couldn't tell if it was from his voice or the cold shift in the air. Colin looked like he wanted to give her his jacket, but before he could, the woman glared at him, laying the deck face down on the table and cutting it into two equal stacks. She then yanked each of their hands towards her, and Penelope let out a yelp of surprise, praying that her concealer didn't rub off.
"You two are a rarity. I was very intrigued when you entered my tent. I haven't seen a bond like yours in many years," the woman said, much to both of their confusion. "Most people believe that soul marks died out years ago. People were ashamed of them and kept them hidden out of fear. But you both know all about that, don't you?"
"You have a soul mark?" Colin and Penelope asked at the same time.
The woman cackled. "Oh, you didn't know! Well, this is fun. Humour me now, will you?" They focused their attention back on the table, their minds racing with what they had just learned. "Draw one card from the pile laying in front of you and turn it over at the same time."
They did as she instructed, their hands shaking with anticipation.
"My mark..." Both mumbled, staring down at the images, then shifted their eyes to see what the other's card revealed.
Penelope was pale with shock, certain that this entire experience must be a dream. She did not have a soulmate, and it most certainly wasn't Colin Bridgerton, the man she had been in love with for years.
Colin spoke first, much to her relief. "Pen...how? Your mark...how have I never seen it?" He asked, tracing his fingers over her skin, slowing wiping her concealer away to reveal the symbol underneath.
She blushed and looked down at their hands, following the same patterns as he had. "Same as you. I covered it up."
Colin intertwined their fingers, their marks just centimeters from touching. "I'm never covering it up again," he swore, his voice laced with such heart wrenching adoration. "I'm so glad it's you."
Penelope looked up in surprise. "You are? But you said-"
"Forget what I said," Colin told her gently. "I was an idiot. I was scared of my feelings. If I had known..." He sighed. "I should have known. Of course it's you." He took her face in his hands, his eyes boring into hers with something she was sure she had seen before but ignored as something else. "I love you, Penelope."
"I love you too, Colin," she whispered. He pulled her face into his hands, kissing her deeply as their souls returned home.
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Eloise handed the fortune teller a small wad of cash as she tore the scarves off her head.
"Thanks, love," the woman said, her voice returning to a more familiar London accent.
Eloise grinned. "No, thank you, Mrs. Danbury. We've been trying to get those two to open their eyes for years. Who'd have thought this little scheme was all it took?"
Mrs. Danbury scoffed. "Don't think I didn't notice you covering that flower on your wrist, Miss Bridgerton," she said knowingly. Eloise blushed under the woman's scrutinizing stare.
When would people learn, Danbury wondered. You can't hide from your soulmate forever.
