Another Cinderella Story

20. Crown ~Lily~

Mother, Sophie, and I were under house arrest.

Okay, well, we had just been here for five minutes and we could come out the next day to be. . . executed. I knew that the thought should have scared me along with the fact that Liam and Ella were being forced to the palace, but somehow I knew that we would make it out of this. I had faith in my friends, and I wouldn't stop trying to escape until a noose was around my neck. I know that sounded stupid, but it was all the hope I was holding onto.

Still, the room was deathly silent, and I knew that if someone didn't break the silence soon, then I would go insane. I couldn't stand just waiting here while everything was happening around us.

"So, um," I said, "did Angus ever tell you where he went?" It was a poor attempt at conversation, but it was all I had.

"I didn't think to hard about it," Mother said, "because he's always leaving. I'm surprised you hadn't noticed, but he's gone for quite a few days of the week. Looking for a new job, I suppose."

"Did he ever say goodbye? Give you something? That's what they do in the stories," Jessie said.

"Well,— wait, what stories?" Mother asked.

"The ones that you keep on your bedside table. The romantic ones," Jessie said, keeping down a smile.

"Those are not age appropriate, Jessie Mildred Smith!" Mother said. "As soon as we get out of this, you're grounded!"

It was too much —Mother calling Jessie by her full name and grounding her while trapped in an old, falling apart shack— Jessie and I dissolved into fits of giggles, and Mother allowed herself a small, suppressed smile.

I leaned back on the wooden counter, being careful to avoid the grime covering the sink. "So did he leave you anything?" I asked as a goodbye?" I asked with a smile.

Mother sighed. "After he left that one morning with no warning, I looked into his room to see if there were any letters or anything to explain his frequent absences, but what I found was far more perplexing," she said.

"What was it?" Jessie said.

"A crown. An exact replica of the king's. He could have sold it for a lot of money and we wouldn't have had to go through all of this. I don't know why he kept it."

I opened my mouth to say something about the crown, but then, suddenly, the realization struck. "The crown. . . what if it wasn't just a replica? What if it was the real thing?"

"And Angus. . ." Jessie said, "he just might be the king!"